Return to Milsom Bay
by ytteb
Summary: Tony is looking forward to a quiet weekend in North Carolina. How foolish of him! Final chapter up.
1. Chapter 1

_I wanted to write another story involving the people Tony met in 'Betrayal' but you don't need to have read that story to understand this one. I'll re-introduce you to the characters as the story goes along._

Tony DiNozzo heaved a contented sigh as he was allowed out through the security gate at Norfolk. He had spent the last two and a half days instructing the newly fledged NCIS case agent on his duties and it had brought back memories of his first meeting with Timothy McGee all those years ago.

Now, however, the weekend had arrived and with it the promise of a few days off and a shorter than usual drive to his bolt hole at Milsom Bay on the North Carolina coast. Tony wondered if Gibbs had been being less of his bastard self in giving him the Norfolk assignment; it was McGee, after all, who had the hands on experience of being the case agent there but Gibbs had chosen to send Tony instead. It _might_ have been that Gibbs was being kind and letting Tony have a shorter journey for his days off but, thought Tony, it was more likely that the Boss wanted Tony out of the office and out of his hair for a while.

Tony might, or might not, have been right about Gibbs' motives in sending him to Norfolk but he was probably right to sense that Gibbs had mixed feelings about Tony's new sanctuary in North Carolina. Tony had found the haven while he and Gibbs were, what he jokingly called, 'on a break'. Gibbs had managed to piss Tony off to such an extent that he had driven out of Washington in a white heat of anger and determined not to be found by his team.

All had ended reasonably well; Gibbs and Tony hadn't exactly fallen on each other's necks in an emotional reunion but they had managed to regroup and establish lines of communication again. Tony had made a good friend in Millie Lacy who was the 'best cook in either of the Carolinas' according to another new friend, John Sutherland, ex painter of society portraits. John had opened his 'shack' to Tony and had ended up selling him the hut at the bottom of his garden.

Over the last few months Tony had arranged for that hut to be enlarged so it was now a comfortable little home for him. He had half expected Gibbs to take over, to inspect (and criticise) the work being done and to offer to lend a hand but Gibbs had been uncharacteristically neutral about an enticing woodworking project.

Tony wasn't sure whether this apparent lack of interest was because Gibbs thought Tony would soon lose interest in his coastal retreat or because he was jealous of Tony's new friends. Sometimes he thought it was the latter but mostly Tony thought that it was that Gibbs didn't really believe in Tony's new found love of a quiet seaside community. And, to be honest, Tony was surprised himself. A few months ago he wouldn't have thought of looking forward to a weekend devoted mostly to painting his new kitchen and bathroom.

It wasn't going to be all work, however. Tony made sure that the first thing he did on any visit was to drop in at Millie's café on the beach front. Millie really was a remarkable cook and she was also one of the kindest and most placid people he had ever met; a visit to Millie soothed parts of him he hadn't even realised needing soothing. Tony was in for something of a surprise that day, however.

Tony drew up in front of the café just as the light began to fade. He had got to know the Bay well enough to think that there would be a glorious sunset soon and he could already picture sitting watching it while eating one of Millie's marvellous suppers. Millie greeted him with a warm smile and a motherly embrace. Tony returned the hug with enthusiasm and kissed her on the cheek,

"Oh, you're a sight for sore eyes, Millie," he said.

Millie slapped him on the arm, "I know you. It's not me you've come to see, it's my fish stew!"

"Millie!" protested Tony, "how can you say that? Now, if it had been your beef hot pot ..."

Millie laughed and pushed him away, "Go and sit down, I'll bring you something to be going on with."

Tony let her shove him aside and went and sat down at his favourite table by the window to watch the beginning of the sunset. A few minutes later Millie emerged from the kitchen carrying a cup of coffee and a steaming bowl of soup for Tony. As she walked towards Tony's table, the door opened and a youngish woman walked in.

"Be right with you," called Millie to her new customer.

Tony looked up to see who had come in and Millie saw a look of surprised pleasure dawn on his face. She turned to take a closer look at the newcomer who had a look of matching surprise on her face but no pleasure.

"Age –", began Tony before noticing the scowl on the new arrival's face, he turned it into a cough instead. Millie looked momentarily concerned. Dr Mallard had paid a brief visit to Milsom Bay during Tony's first stay and had taken the opportunity to tell Millie about Tony's bout with pneumonic plague, asking her to be vigilant in case Tony ever showed signs of coughing or congestion. Today, however, Millie quickly dismissed Tony's cough as a sign of embarrassment and she began to imagine a broken romance between Tony and her new customer. She sighed regretfully, she thought they made an attractive couple.

"Tony," said the woman, a little coolly but nevertheless taking a seat next to Tony. "May I have a cup of coffee?" she asked Millie.

"Gibbs' strength," butted in Tony, earning another scowl.

"Of course," said Millie in her usual placid manner, "can I get you anything with that?" She paused to weigh her up and made her calculation, "I've got some ginger cake you might like."

Millie's instinct had worked again, ginger cake seemed to be the chink in the woman's armour and she finally smiled in acceptance. Millie went back to the kitchen to make an industrial strength brew of coffee.

"What are you doing here?" hissed Tony's new companion, "and how did you find out?"

"I live here," said Tony irritated, "well, some of the time. And find out what, Agent Borin?"

"I thought you lived in Washington?" asked Abigail Borin.

"I do, but I've got a sort of cabin down the road a little."

"_You've_ got a cabin?" asked Borin incredulously.

"Sure," said Tony a little defensively, "why shouldn't I? Gibbs has got a cabin in the woods, mine's by the sea. Keep up, Borin. Cabins'll soon be a requirement for all federal agents."

Borin shook her head but didn't reply as Millie came back at that moment with her coffee and a wedge of sticky ginger cake.

"So what are _you_ doing here, Agent Borin?" asked Tony when Millie had gone again, "and being so squirrelly, might I say?"

"I'm not squirrelly," said Borin crossly, "you took me by surprise, that's all."

"And yet you still haven't told me why you're here," pointed out Tony as he took a spoonful of his chowder.

"Coastguard business," said Borin briefly.

"Well, I guessed that," said Tony sarcastically, "do share, _please._"

Borin still hesitated so Tony went on, "Look, I've got to know this place and the people pretty well. I might be able to help."

"OK," said Borin reluctantly, "it's probably nothing. There've been some rumours about unusual ship sightings along the coast. There might be some smuggling going on but it's all a bit vague."

"Smuggling what?"

"Don't know. Like I said, it's vague."

"Seems a bit unlikely, doesn't it?" asked Tony, "this close to Norfolk base? Security's pretty tight."

"We think it might be some sailors from the Base," said Borin, "convenient for them. They might know how to evade the security. Well, you know the drill."

"And let's face it," said Tony with brutal honesty, "criminals aren't always the brightest bulbs on the lamp stand."

Borin opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a mini explosion of noise coming from the door.

"Uncle Tony!" shouted a small boy, "Uncle Tony! Granma told me you were here!"

He ran over to where Tony was sitting and started pulling on his sleeve, "Come and shoot hoops with me, _please!"_

"Joseph Lacy," came Millie's voice, "you leave Tony alone. He's eating his supper and besides, he's got company."

"Sorry," said Joe disconsolately, "I just really, really wanted Uncle Tony to play."

"I know, buddy," said Tony reassuringly, "but look, it's getting dark. We wouldn't be able to see, would we? Unless your Granma has had floodlights put in."

Joe giggled and shook his head although clearly a thought process had been started in his head and Millie might be getting a request for more lighting soon.

"Hello, Uncle Tony," came another voice. Joe's sister Pippa had arrived. She also seemed not to notice, or care, about Tony's company but simply climbed up into his lap and gave him a hug.

"Hi, Sweetheart," said Tony, putting an arm round her to ensure she didn't tumble down, "you and Joe here for the weekend?"

Pippa was a child of few words but she knew what she wanted. She nodded and grabbed a handful of Tony's sweater as if to ensure he didn't escape. Then she seemed to realise that Tony wasn't alone, she gazed at Agent Borin and said, "Who's the pretty lady, Uncle Tony?"

Tony decided to let Borin answer that one. "My name's Abbie," she said, "I'm a friend of your ... of Tony."

"You're not Abby," said Pippa, "I've seen a picture. Abby's got black hair. You haven't got black hair. What colour _is_ your hair?"

"I know more than one person called Abby, Pips," said Tony, "the Abby I work with has black hair and this Abbie doesn't."

"So is there another girl called Pippa somewhere?" said Pippa, this was obviously something outside her experience.

"You're not really Pippa," said Joe in a superior big-brother voice.

"No, I'm really Phil ... Phil –a-delphia", said Pippa having finally chosen a name.

"No, you're not," said Joe scornfully, "you're Philippa but it's too long for a squirt like you."

"Oh," said Pippa, and then, clearly bored with the discussion, slid down from Tony's lap, "Bye," she said and walked towards the kitchen. Joe was made of sterner stuff and stood his ground.

"Look," said Tony, "we'll shoot hoops tomorrow."

"Promise?" demanded Joe who had had experience of adult assurances.

"Promise," said Tony firmly, "I'll come down here tomorrow for elevenses and we'll play then."

"OK," said Joe, "what time is elevenses?"

"Eleven o'clock," said Tony.

"In the morning?" asked Joe who liked to be sure.

"In the morning," confirmed Tony.

"All right," said Joe and he reluctantly followed his sister.

Tony watched him go and then turned to look at Borin who was staring at him with an amused expression on her face.

"Oh, yeah," said Tony with an embarrassed but pleased look, "Millie's grandkids. They kinda like me." He shrugged as if this was no big deal. "So, Borin, what are you going to do?"

"I think you'd better call me Abbie," said Borin, "otherwise your young admirer is going to get even more confused. And I'm not sure Millie will understand you calling me by my surname."

"Abbie it is then, Abbie," said Tony, "so what are your plans?"

"I'll see if Millie's got a room here for the night, and then have a look round tomorrow."

"Need a hand? I'm just painting this weekend, I can spare the time."

"Don't forget shooting hoops," said Borin, "I've got a feeling Joe will keep you to that promise."

"Hadn't forgotten. Besides, I'd never miss Millie's elevenses. How about I meet you in the morning? I usually go for an early morning run past here, you could join me. That wouldn't look suspicious would it?"

"Sounds all right. You sure Gibbs didn't put you up to this?"

"I'm sure. Don't tell anyone but Gibbs doesn't _actually_ know everything. Besides, I'm not entirely sure he approves of this place."

Abbie opened her mouth to ask why but was forestalled by the arrival of Tony's fish stew. He raised a warning finger, "No talking during Millie's food, it would be a sacrilege."

Borin was going to laugh but took a bite out of her ginger cake instead and suddenly realised the truth of Tony's words.

NCISNCIS

"I want to talk to Special Agent Tony's boss," came the enquiry to the NCIS switchboard.

"Which Special Agent Tony?" asked the operator patiently, "there are more than one."

"The one who played basket ball for Ohio State University."

"I'm not sure who that is," said the operator although she was beginning to guess, "have you got any more details?"

"Um, I think his Boss is a bit grumpy sometimes."

"Special Agent DiNozzo?" said the operator.

"Yes!" came the excited reply.

"And may I ask the nature of your enquiry?"

"Uh?"

"What do you wish to talk to Special Agent DiNozzo's supervisor about?"

"It's personal."

"I see. May I have your name, please?"

"Joe. Joe Lacy."

"Very well, Mr Lacy. Please hold the line, I will try to connect you."

"Gibbs."

"Special Agent Gibbs, Switchboard here. I have someone wishing to speak to Special Agent DiNozzo's boss. He won't say what it's about."

"Put him through," said Gibbs.

"Er, it sounds like a young boy, Agent Gibbs. Says his name is Joe Lacy."

"Thanks, Marcy," said Gibbs trying to place the name of Lacy. "Hello. This is Special Agent Gibbs. How may I help you?"

"Are you Special Agent Tony's boss?" asked Joe.

"Yes, I am. (_And I've got the grey hair to prove it)_" thought Gibbs.

"Then you need to do something," said Joe firmly.

"What's going on? Joe, is it?"

"He said he was going to shoot hoops with me this morning."

"And?"

"And he didn't turn up," said Joe crossly.

"And what do you want me to do about it?"

"You're his Boss," said Joe as if it was obvious.

"Listen, Joe, I know it's disappointing but I can't really tell Tony off for not showing up to play ball with you."

"I know that," said Joe exasperatedly.

"Then what _do_ you want me to do?" asked Gibbs wishing he hadn't come in on the weekend to catch up with paperwork. He was already planning, however, to have a word with DiNozzo about not letting children down.

"Uncle Tony said you would always have his six. Was he right?"

"Yes," said Gibbs beginning to feel uneasy.

"Then you need to do something," said Joe.

"Joe, you're going to need to explain this to me a bit more."

A put-upon sigh came through the phone, "Uncle Tony would _never_ let me down. He _promised_ he'd shoot hoops."

"Perhaps you got the time wrong," said Gibbs hopefully.

"No," said Joe firmly, "he said he'd be coming down for Granma's elevenses and we'd play then."

"And he didn't come?"

"NO! And Granma says he _never_ misses snack time."

"Can I speak to your Granma, Joe?"

"OK," said Joe reluctantly, "I'll go get her."

Gibbs waited impatiently. It was ridiculous to think that anything could be wrong just because Tony hadn't shown to play ball with a young boy but his gut was beginning to lurch. Finally he heard another voice coming through the phone,

"Hello? Special Agent Gibbs, this is Millie Lacy. I'm _so_ sorry, I had no idea that Joe had called you. I really must apologise."

"Has Tony turned up, Ms Lacy?"

"Well, no, he hasn't. And I must say that it is unusual for Tony to let Joe down. I'm afraid that Joe has got a bit of hero worship going on and he does pester Tony a bit."

"How long ago did you expect Tony?"

"About an hour, Agent Gibbs. You don't really think anything's wrong, do you?"

"It's not very likely, Ms Lacy, but I'd feel easier if we knew where he was."

"Perhaps his friend from last night would know," said Millie, "she's staying here with me."

"A friend?"

"Well, I think so. She didn't seem very pleased to see him at first but they seemed to get on fine after a while."

"Have you seen her today?" asked Gibbs beginning to wonder if Tony had just hooked up with someone and lost track of time.

"No, I haven't, come to think of it. She didn't come down for breakfast but these girls don't always, you know. Always watching their weight."

"Would you mind checking her room for me, Ms Lacy?"

"Of course, I'll call you right back."

Gibbs wondered what to do as he waited for Millie to return. He tried calling Tony's cell but it went to voice mail. That in itself was not unusual when Tony was in Milsom Bay; Gibbs was never sure whether it was patchy cell reception which prevented Tony picking up or whether he just wanted to ignore his Boss when he was away. Ducky wandered up from Autopsy while he was waiting.

"What you doing here, Duck?"

"The same as you, Jethro, I would surmise. I cannot comprehend how dealing with dead people generates so much paper work. I seem to remember that at one time, people used to say that the advent of computers would mean paperless offices! Huh! But, Jethro, you look a little concerned?"

"Probably nothing, Duck. Just got a call about DiNozzo."

"Anthony? I thought he was spending a weekend in his North Carolina retreat? And a good thing too, I thought I detected a certain wheeziness to his breathing earlier in the week. A good sea breeze will blow some cobwebs away and do him the world of good."

"He getting sick?"

"No, no. I'm sure he's fine. I always tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to our agents' health. Why, I remember ..." His anecdote was cut short by the sound of Gibbs' phone ringing. Gibbs answered the call and put it on speaker.

"Gibbs."

"Agent Gibbs, Millie Lacy here. I've checked my guest's room. Her belongings are still there and I should have said earlier that her car is still parked out front. I also called down to John. You remember John Sutherland, don't you? I asked him to go and check in Tony's hut. He's going to call me back."

"Do you have a name for your guest?" asked Gibbs wondering how embarrassed Tony would be if he knew Gibbs was snooping into his sex life.

"I will just check. I know her first name is Abbie because it confused my granddaughter Pippa that there should be more than one person by that name."

"How does she know about Abby?"

"Tony often talks about you all, Agent Gibbs. We have seen pictures of all his co-workers and that's why we knew that this Abbie wasn't Goth Abby."

Gibbs felt a twinge of guilt that he had deliberately not taken an interest in Tony's other friends and he guessed that the rest of the team might have taken a lead from him. He had reasoned that Tony was prone to sudden enthusiasms and that this was just another.

"Agent Gibbs," came Millie again, "her name is Abigail Borin. I think Tony already knew her. He coughed when she came into the café and I was anxious at first but then I thought that he was just covering something up."

"Ms Lacy, this is Dr Mallard. You said Tony coughed. Did he sound all right afterwards?"

"Why yes, Dr Mallard, he seemed fine. As I said, I think he coughed just to cover up something he was about to say. You don't think Tony could have been taken ill, do you?"

Ducky was about to say something but was interrupted by Sutherland's voice,

"Agent Gibbs. This is John Sutherland. I saw Tony last night. He dropped in for a nightcap when he got back from Millie's."

"Have you seen him since?" asked Gibbs.

"No. He gets up too early for me, I'm afraid. I heard him running past at about 5am but I just went back to sleep. I expected to see him at Millie's this morning. He never misses her food and, besides, he promised Joe he'd play ball with him. Tony plays it down but he's real fond of that boy and he wouldn't let him down."

"Have you checked his cabin?"

"Yes. When Millie phoned me I went down and checked. He's not there and it doesn't look as if he came back from his run. I jumped into my car and came down to Millie's, thought it'd be easier that way. Agent Gibbs, do you think we should be concerned?"

Gibbs hesitated, trying to decide what to do.

"It's probably nothing, Sutherland. Keep trying his cell, will you? You might have better reception down there. I'm going to come down, let me know if he turns up."

"Of course, Agent Gibbs. I might even give him a head slap on your behalf!"

Gibbs grunted a laugh in acknowledgement and ended the call.

"Jethro, you don't really think anything is wrong, do you?"

"Don't know, Duck. Something doesn't feel right. I'll get in contact with Borin's office, see if they know what she was doing down there."

"Why don't you let me do that, Jethro. Then you can concentrate while you're driving us."

"Us?"

"You don't think I'd miss a trip to the coast, do you? Especially if it means leaving all that paperwork behind? Are you going to contact Timothy and Ziva?"

Gibbs considered for a moment, "Nope. They're both helping Abby at Habitat for Humanity this weekend. I don't want to pull them away for what'll probably be a wild goose chase."

"Indeed. By the way, do you know the origin of the phrase 'wild goose chase'? It is utterly fascinating ..."

"Duck!"

"I do apologise, Jethro. I think I will just go to Autopsy and pick up my medical bag. It is always best to be prepared. Especially when one is dealing with Anthony."

"You do that, Duck. And wrap up warm. We're not driving down there. I've got another plan."

"How exciting! What do you have in mind, Jethro?"

NCISNCIS

Meanwhile, Tony and Borin looked at one another.

"What now, Agent DiNozzo?"

"You're the maritime expert, Agent Borin. You tell me."


	2. Chapter 2

Earlier that day.

Tony set off as usual for his morning run. What was slightly less usual was that he took his weapon and badge with him: he normally wanted to run as light as possible but if he and Borin found something he wanted everything to be official.

He jogged gently down to Millie's café and found Borin waiting for him. Mornings weren't Tony's best time so he just grunted a greeting. It seemed that Borin might be one of those annoying people who woke up instantly as she seemed far more awake,

"Morning, DiNozzo. I half expected you to be still in bed," she said as she jogged up and down on the spot."

She got another grunt in reply but then Tony managed some words, "Any idea where to go?"

"We'll carry on down this way. Looks as if there are some places where boats could come ashore; lots of inlets where they could be out of sight for a while."

"'kay. I'll set the pace if you don't mind. You look a bit energetic for me."

Borin laughed but let Tony take the lead, she turned out to be in a talkative mood, "So how did you end up here, Tony?"

"Long story," said Tony, panting a little, "short version is that I headed out of DC and let the car go where it wanted. Turned out it wanted to come here. And I sort of stuck – you've met Millie, well she's typical of the people round here. They're not complicated, what you see is what you get. That's kinda refreshing in my line of work."

"Sounds a bit like where I grew up," said Borin, "sort of place I couldn't wait to leave."

"And now?" asked Tony.

"Now I can see the appeal a bit more," admitted Borin, "but when you're eighteen you think you want people to be complicated, a bit more exotic."

"Trust me," said Tony, "I grew up with complicated and exotic. It's not all it's cracked up to be."

"Guess Gibbs likes it here," said Borin in a tone which could have been either a statement or a question.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" said Tony, "I think it's time to walk now."

"Tired already, DiNozzo?"

"No. It's just I don't like running on this loose sand. Easy to turn an ankle and I'm guessing you don't want to carry me back?"

"You're right there." Borin stopped and stood with hands on hips gazing out to sea, "it is beautiful here. I can see why you like it."

"Well, I did. I'm hoping we don't find anything. Like I said, I like the people here. Don't want to find out they're up to no good."

"it's a long shot, Tony. And anyway, it doesn't have to be locals involved."

"What kind of boat did you say has been sighted?"

"I didn't. Small to medium fishing boats which don't seem to be doing any fishing and are out at odd times. Why?"

"I don't usually see any boats this near in when I go for my run. And I can hear something idling nearby, probably round the next inlet."

Borin looked surprised for a moment and then she heard the motor too. "OK, let's take a look. Probably nothing."

Borin and Tony strolled as casually as possible round the bend and saw a fishing boat moored out a bit in the little bay. A small inflatable boat looked as if it had just made land with four people sitting in it.

"Recognise anyone?" asked Tony.

"Nope, but we don't have any suspects at the moment. What shall we do?"

"Let's go on," said Tony, "it'll look suspicious if we suddenly turn back."

"OK," said Borin, and she took Tony's hand, "just two people out for a romantic walk."

"I like your style, Abigail," said Tony and he gave her what he hoped looked like a loving smile.

Borin and Tony continued on their walk, taking care not to go too close or appear to be looking at the boat.

"Tell me, darling," said Tony after a few minutes, "as you're the real sailor here. Is it common for people just to sit in a boat like that?"

"No," said Abbie, "unless the engine's broken but they don't look as if they're trying to fix anything."

"OK," said Tony, "let's go somewhere and see if we can take some pictures. I've got my cell with me."

They carried on walking until the shoreline curved again and they were out of sight of the boat; then they doubled back a bit and lay in a sand dune to watch. Tony took some pictures and after a few more minutes they decided they had seen enough and it was time to go back. Their timing was unfortunate.

As they neared the boat again, still hand in hand and seemingly absorbed in one another, a car drew up on the beach road and two people emerged and made their way towards the boat on the shore.

"Crap," said Tony.

"What 's up?" asked Abbie with a sweet smile on her face.

"Might be nothing but one of those people coming towards us is Petty Officer Kilbride. He was working in the same office as the new NCIS guy at Norfolk. He'll have seen me there this week. It might be all right – after all, I was just coming here for a weekend away until you made me help you."

"Me? Make you?" said Abbie crossly but still with an adoring look.

Tony dropped his cell into a clump of beach grass as he walked past, "Let's see what he does. Easy does it."

They continued to walk at the same pace and, as they neared, the two passengers from the car, Abbie gave them a brief 'good morning'. They made to walk past but then heard Petty Officer Kilbride say,

"Agent DiNozzo! Is that you?"

Tony suppressed a curse and turned round with a smile on his face, "Yes, it is. Hey, it's Petty Officer Kilbride, isn't it?"

"Er, yes," said the young man nervously. "I'm just ... I'm just ... well, this is ..." His companion interrupted him,

"Do you know these people?"

Tony tried an easy laugh, "I think 'know' would be an overstatement. I met the petty officer during the week at work. I'm just down here for the weekend."

"is that right, Kilbride?" asked the other man.

Kilbride nodded and Tony turned back saying, "Nice to see you, Petty Officer. See you again perhaps."

They had walked a few paces when they heard the sound of running footsteps behind them. It seemed that two of the men in the boat had been summoned. Borin and Tony stopped and turned with a suitably surprised look on their faces.

"Agent DiNozzo," said the other man from the car, "it seems rather a coincidence that you should be here for the weekend. My friend here says you are based at the Navy Yard in Washington. It's a long way from home for you."

"I've got a cabin down the road," said Tony, grateful he didn't have to make up an answer, "It's good to get away from DC sometimes."

"And where is this cabin?"

"About half a mile past the Beach Café."

"The one in Mr Sutherland's garden?" asked Kilbride, "the one's that's being done up?"

Tony nodded.

The unknown man looked a little relieved and asked Kilbride, "You know the place he's talking about?"

"Yeah, I just knew that someone from the city had bought it."

"I see. I'm sorry to have delayed you, Agent DiNozzo. And your delightful companion."

Tony nodded and he and Borin turned to go again. They stopped when they saw that the boat crew were pointing guns at them.

"Boss," said one of them, "the woman is with the Coastguard. I've seen her around the HQ in Arlington."

"Indeed," said the 'Boss', "I think, after all, we won't take any chances. Search them."

A few minutes later Tony and Abbie found themselves stripped of weapons, badges and remaining cell phone and with their hands tied behind their backs.

"Let's get on with this," said the leader, and he beckoned to the two remaining men in the boat. One of them jumped out easily and then offered a hand to someone who clambered out a little awkwardly. They began to walk up the beach and Tony's eyes widened when he recognised the clumsy passenger. The two walked past and got into the waiting car.

"Jack," said the leader to Kilbride, "go with them. Get rid of our friends somewhere."

Kilbride nodded nervously. The two with the guns jerked them towards their prisoners and urged them down to the dinghy. As they reached the water's edge, there seemed to be a change of plan and the guns were smashed down on to Abbie and Tony's heads and they crashed to the ground.

"Make it simpler," said one of the gang, "didn't fancy them making a fuss on the water."

"Don't just stand there," said the other to Kilbride, "help us load them."

NCISNCIS

"So, Jethro," said Ducky, as he returned to the squad room with his medical bag and thick overcoat, "how are we going to get to North Carolina quickly? I mean even quicker than your redoubtable driving?"

"Captain Lloyd," said Gibbs briefly.

"Captain Lloyd? And who is he?"

"He's one of the trainers at Camp Lejeune. He's running some chopper training sessions. I suggested he'd like to run one between the Navy yard and the Camp."

"You never to fail to amaze me, Jethro, with how you know what's going on. It reminds me of my Aunt Geraldine, she was always able to organise whatever needed to be organised. She used to run the summer fêtes back in our village, they were an absolute marvel. Coconut shies, tombola, guess the weight of the cake, throwing wet sponges at the vicar. The tea tent was quite a phenomenon ..."

"Duck. Do you want to stand here and reminisce or do you want to get to North Carolina?" asked Gibbs brusquely.

"Of course, I do apologise, Jethro. I haven't thought of Aunt Geraldine for decades and I quite lost track of time ..." Ducky ground to a halt and realised that he was alone in the squad room. He picked up his bag and trotted towards the elevator, "Wait for me, Jethro."

Even going by helicopter it still took about two hours to get to Milsom Bay via Camp Lejeune. Gibbs champed at the delay but was able to contact Borin's superiors on the journey in a jeep borrowed from the obliging Captain Lloyd.

"Looks pretty speculative, Duck," he said as he put the phone down. "Borin's team had heard some rumours about odd shipping movements. They'd split up and were investigating the coast north and south of DC to see if they could pick something up."

"So this may all be nothing," said Ducky hopefully, "and I've had my internal organs shaken up for no reason?" but he didn't look unhappy.

"May be," acknowledged Gibbs, "but nobody's phoned to say DiNozzo and Borin have turned up."

"Very true," said Ducky, "and in any event, we will have a chance to see Anthony's new abode."

"Just a cabin, Duck, it's not Tony's home."

"Just so," agreed Ducky, "but he seems to like it." He just got a grunt in reply so he tried again, "I must say, Jethro, that I am somewhat surprised that you haven't got involved with Tony's building project." Another grunt. "Do I detect some disapproval about Anthony's new living arrangements?"

"You know what he's like, Duck. He gets these things in his head and the next thing you know, he's moved on to the next one."

"I would have thought you might want to have encouraged him in this one. It seems an entirely healthy enterprise and he seems to have made some interesting new friends."

"He's an adult, Duck. DiNozzo can make his own mind up. He doesn't need my approval."

Ducky laughed, "Oh, Jethro. I think you know that's not true. Whatever _difficulties_ you and Anthony have been experiencing, surely you know that he still admires and respects you."

"He didn't ask my opinion about the hut, Duck. Don't think he needs my input anymore."

"Aahh," said Ducky pensively but, for once, he kept his own counsel.

They arrived at Milsom Bay shortly afterwards and stopped at the Beach Café. Millie and John hurried out when they saw the jeep pull up.

"Any news?" asked Gibbs.

"No," said John. I took a walk down where Tony usually runs but I didn't see any sign of him or his friend. He normally runs close to the water where the sand is firmer but the tide's been in since then so I couldn't see any tracks."

"Mind if I look in the cabin?" asked Gibbs, "might give me an idea of what he took with him."

"Of course," said John, "I'll go with you."

Gibbs turned to Ducky,

"And I'll stay here, Jethro, " said Ducky. He turned to Millie, "How delightful to see you again, Mrs Lacy. I'm only sorry that it's under these rather worrying circumstances. I wonder if I could trouble you for a cup of tea. We came by helicopter and then Jethro drove us here in a jeep so my inner workings could do with a little calming down."

"Of course, Dr Mallard," said Millie, grateful for something to do, "Please come in. By chance, I made a Dundee cake last night. I seem to remember that you enjoyed it on your last visit."

"My dear lady, if you don't mind my saying, you are the only non-Scottish person I have ever met who truly understands the subtleties of a good Dundee cake."

"My grandmother came from Scotland, Dr Mallard," laughed Millie.

"Indeed," said Ducky with enthusiasm, "then my theory holds good. Now do tell me, from what part of Alba did your dear grandmother hail?"

"Alba?" said a puzzled Millie, "no, she came from Scotland."

"Ah," said a delighted Ducky, "Alba is the Gaelic word for ..."

Gibbs smiled briefly at the note of instruction in Ducky's voice and then walked to the jeep. Arriving at Tony's hut, Gibbs noted that the extension work had been done well, the timber looked well seasoned and the construction was solid. He approved the inside as well, the one original room had had a small kitchen added so that there was now a large kitchen diner/living room in which it looked as if Tony slept as well.

"There's another bedroom through there," said John indicating another door, "and a bathroom next to the kitchen area."

"Looks good," said Gibbs.

"Think he's looking forward to having a guest," said John carefully.

"Humph," said Gibbs noncommittally. He looked in Tony's gun safe and nodded when he saw it was empty. He cast an eye over the table and shelves, "Can't see his badge or his cell. Guess he took them with him."

"Is that good?" asked john.

"Shows he went prepared. He doesn't usually take his gun and badge when he goes running in DC."

"Do you go running with him?"

"Not recently," said Gibbs, "can't see his running gear, those are his walking shoes. I reckon you're right. He did go running."

"Do you think he might have an accident?" asked John.

"Might have. But he took his cell so he could have called in. And then there's Borin."

"You know the woman he was with?"

"Special Agent Abigail Borin. She's with the Coastguard Investigative Service."

"Good Lord, I didn't know they had one."

Gibbs quirked one of his half smiles. It was good to know there was a federal agency even less well known than NCIS.

"There's nothing else to be seen here," he said, "let's go back to the café."

They got back to the café where they found Ducky mesmerising Millie and her family with his version of the history of Scotland and the role of the Mallards in it.

"Ah, Jethro," he broke off when he saw Gibbs walk in, "any luck?"

"No," said Gibbs, "no sign of him or Borin. It's coming up to 1500, Tony went for his run about ten hours ago and hasn't been seen since."

"And he didn't come and play ball with me," said a plaintive Joe.

"And I got Granma to put this ribbon on my pigtail today. 'Cos Uncle Tony said he liked pink," said Pippa, "and he didn't get to see it."

Gibbs tweaked the pigtail and patted Joe on the shoulder, "We'll find him, don't worry. Sutherland, show me where Tony usually runs."

If John had not been so worried he might have been amused, and irritated, at the way that Gibbs was ordering him about but he squashed those feelings as he acknowledged Gibbs' expertise in these matters. He led the way.

"Ducky, here's a list of numbers for Borin's team. Contact them and let them know we think something might be up. They need to get here and start looking out for those suspicious boats again."

"Of course, Jethro. Do you want me to summon Timothy and Ziva?"

"Get them on standby. They may be of more use running down searches back in DC."

NCISNCIS

Tony groaned as he regained consciousness. He wasn't sure to be glad that he had missed breakfast that morning. He could feel the pitching of the boat and he wasn't sure if it was that or a pounding headache which was making him nauseous. At least he didn't have anything in his stomach to bring up. Although as he thought about this, he didn't quite see why he should be considerate of his captors, the least they deserved for ruining his weekend was being vomited on.

He looked across and saw Borin still apparently out cold next to him. He heard the sound of a gun clicking and looked up to see one of the gang pointing a weapon at him,

"Just stay still, otherwise I'll knock you out again."

Tony nodded, not quite sure he had the energy to fight at the moment, and it would be difficult to make an attack from the bottom of the dinghy.

"Jack, are we there yet?" asked the other captor.

"Just coming up now," said Kilbride, " are you sure this is what we should do. Wayne?"

"You heard what the Boss said. Get rid of them."

Tony braced himself, thinking that if they were about to get shot he would go down fighting. A few minutes later the boat hit something and then stopped.

"This is it," said Kilbride.

"Pays to have someone local," said Wayne, "this looks perfect." He put his foot on Tony's chest, "stay there."

Tony did what he was told and watched as Kilbride and the other man picked Borin up and tossed her over the side of the boat. He waited for a splash but none came. The foot was removed from his chest,

"Stand up. Carefully," he was told.

When he stood up he saw that the boat had landed on a tiny, rocky island. In the distance he could see the fishing boat that had been moored in the bay. He guessed that they had been moved on to that boat which had then motored out here. They must have then been put in the dinghy again to come to this rocky outcrop.

"Get out,"

Tony managed to stumble out.

"Are we just going to leave them here?" asked Kilbride.

"Sure," said Wayne, "the Boss said to get rid of them but he won't want them to wash ashore with bullet holes in them. This way it'll just be a mysterious accident."

"But it's miles from land," protested the petty officer, "and there's nothing here."

"You didn't expect a happy ending, did you, Jack?" said Wayne with an unpleasant laugh.

"We could untie them," persisted Kilbride, "couldn't we at least do that, Lee?"

Lee pretended to consider this, "Nah, they'll get those ropes off soon enough. Give them something to do! While they think about swimming twenty miles to shore."

"Hey, Petty Officer Kilbride," said Tony in an authoritative voice, "you don't have to do this. It's not too late. I'll put in a good word for you."

"You do that," said Lee viciously, "but it'll have to be with the man upstairs 'cos you won't be seeing no-one else."

"_I_ _hate double negative,_" thought Tony. He opened his mouth to try again on the wavering petty officer but it was too late. The boat engine started up and the boat moved away. At the last minute, as Lee and Wayne were looking away, Kilbride tossed a backpack on to the rocks and then shrugged.

A few minutes later, Borin began to stir.

"What happened?" she moaned as she tried to sit up.

"Well, Agent Borin," said Tony, "did you ever see the movie 'Cast Away'? 2000. Tom Hanks was nominated for an Oscar. Or perhaps this is more like the Oliver Reed/Amanda Donohue 1986 movie. Although I see myself more a Tom Hanks than an Oliver Reed."

"What?" mumbled Abbie.

"I think there's going to be a remake. Castaway – NCIS the movie. And we're the stars."


	3. Chapter 3

It took Borin and Tony about half an hour to untie themselves. Borin coiled the ropes neatly and placed them where she thought the tide wouldn't take them. Tony raised a quizzical eyebrow,

"Coastguard motto," she said, "_Semper paratus_, always ready."

"Nice," said Tony, "I wonder why NCIS doesn't have a motto? I think I'll ask Director Vance when I see him next. It's a serious omission. So, Agent 'Always Ready', what have you got stashed about your person that's going to get us out of this?"

"You think I'm Superman, with the utility belt?" asked Borin.

Tony frowned, "Batman. Batman had the cool utility belt. Superman just has ... well, he just has super powers, he doesn't need a utility belt."

"Anyway," said Abbie, "no utility belt, I'm afraid. What about you?"

"I've got a couple of power bars in my shorts," said Tony fishing them out of his back pocket, "and a $100 bill in my shoe."

It was Borin's turn to raise an enquiring eyebrow. "Hey, on the whole, money and food get me out of most fixes," said Tony. "This one may need a different approach."

"What's in the backpack?" asked Borin.

Tony picked it up and tested the weight, "Hmmm, a satellite phone, breakfast burrito, DVD player and a copy of 'Blackbeard the Pirate'. Yo-ho-ho, my hearties ... sorry, hearty." He saw Borin's puzzled expression, "No, I haven't got a concussion. Ask my co-workers – I just talk a lot."

Abbie grabbed the backpack off him and looked inside, "your X-ray vision was a bit off, Superman. No satellite phone or breakfast burrito." She tipped the contents out. A length of orange nylon rope, two bottles of water, a waterproof poncho, a torch, a packet of graham crackers and a cell phone – with a flat battery. She sighed, it was better than nothing she supposed.

"If you had McGeek with you he could probably rig something to charge the battery," said Tony morosely, "some sort of chemical reaction between the salt water and some incredibly rare mineral in this rock we're sitting on."

"Have a cracker," said Borin, breaking open the packet, "I don't mind that it's you rather than Tim. Besides it's my fault you're here."

Tony took a cracker, "You don't think we should save them? You know, eat one a month so they last until we're rescued?"

In reply, Borin just took one of the crackers and ate it, "I'm hungry," she said, "we missed breakfast, remember?"

Tony ate his cracker, "it's not your fault I'm here. It was me who suggested we go running together."

"I probably would have gone anyway."

"In which case you might have got caught. I'm glad you weren't on your own. I have enough guilt to live with; I wouldn't want to add you being abducted while I slept comfortably in my bed to the list."

"Thanks, Tony."

"Besides," continued Tony, warming to the theme, "if it's anyone's fault I'm here, it's Gibbs'. If he hadn't sent me to Norfolk, Petty Officer Kilbride wouldn't have recognised me and we wouldn't have been stopped the first time."

"You don't really blame Gibbs do you?"

"No," said Tony, "although if he hadn't pissed me off so much last year, I would have never even come to Milsom Bay."

"Well, I'll be sure to thank him next time I see him," said Borin.

Tony smiled and offered her one of the bottles of water.

"So," said Tony, "got any idea where we are? Thug #2 said we're about twenty miles from shore but he didn't look entirely trustworthy."

"Don't know," said Abbie, "I reckon it's about noon. That fishing boat wouldn't have travelled too far so I'd guess we're off the North Carolina coast."

"Anyone from your team going to miss you?"

Abbie shook her head, "Nope. I was meant to be having the weekend off until my date cancelled on me. I decided I might as well work instead, meant I didn't go back home and murder him. So, no missing check-ins I'm afraid. What about you? Will Gibbs be checking in?"

"No. I called him when I left Norfolk but that was sort of signing off for the weekend and a couple of days at the beginning of the week. He doesn't often call me when I'm here."

Abbie sighed, "Two lonely people no-one's going to miss."

"Speak for yourself, Borin. My money's on Joe."

"Joe? That boy from last night? He's what, six? What's he going to do?"

"Six years and eleven months," corrected Tony, "and he's a basket ball fan. He'll be mad when I don't turn up to shoot hoops with him."

"And that will be enough?" asked Borin sceptically.

"And Millie will be surprised when I don't turn up for breakfast or for elevenses. She knows I love her food," said Tony sheepishly.

"So they might raise the alarm," said Borin, "but they won't have any idea where we are. Hell, we don't have any idea where we are."

"Don't forget my cell," said Tony, "all we need is for them to get Gibbs on the job and he'll get McGee phone tracking. Those photos I took are on the cell, they should give them a clue."

"So, we wait for Gibbs?" said Borin doubtfully.

"Don't know. What do you know about this rock we've been stranded on? How long do you think we can stay here?"

"I'd say that the top part hardly ever goes underwater, perhaps just at certain times of year. So, I think we'd be unlucky to get swept away."

"I wouldn't say luck is exactly going our way at the moment. What about being spotted by another boat?"

"Haven't seen anything in the hour or so we've been here. It's not the time of year for tourists and I'm not sure how many fishing boats are coming and going."

"The food and water's not going to last long," observed Tony.

Tony and Borin looked at one another.

"What now, Agent DiNozzo?"

"You're the maritime expert, Agent Borin. You tell me."

"I'd say that we should stay here today and overnight."

"Why?"

"I don't know about you, but I've got a thumping headache. If we're going to do anything energetic, I'd rather rest first."

"Makes sense," said Tony, himself relieved to be able to rest a while.

"And when it gets dark," continued Borin, "we may get a better idea of where we are."

"How so?"

"North Carolina coast has got lots of lighthouses. Some of them shine for twenty miles or so. If we see one that might give us a clue where we are."

"It might give _you_ a clue," corrected Tony, "do you really know the lighthouses that well?"

"Lighthouses come under the Coastguard Service," said Abbie primly, "of course I know. And also, I used to date someone who was a real enthusiast, I learned by osmosis."

"Like me and Ziva knowing all about jetpacks," mused Tony. "OK, I'll go along with that. We stay here and feast on water and crackers, hope to get rescued and then worry about what to do tomorrow."

"Like Scarlett O'Hara," offered Borin.

"Agent Borin, I knew I liked you. A movie reference, no less."

NCISNCIS

John showed Gibbs the route that Tony usually ran although, of course, they had no way of knowing if he'd gone that way that morning. As John had suggested, there were no clues to be seen about where Tony and Borin had disappeared to. Gibbs turned back after a while, wrestling with the feeling that he was wasting time but still feeling a slight reluctance to raise the alarm too much.

"Sutherland, what does DiNozzo normally do on his weekends here?" he asked.

John looked surprised, "Doesn't he tell you?" Gibbs just frowned so John continued, "I don't know exactly but he usually goes for a run, comes back and we go down to Millie's' for breakfast. Then he'll go for a walk or, more recently, he's been pottering in the cabin. Then down to Millie's mid morning and then much the same in the afternoon. If Kit and the children are here, he usually spends time with them. Well, you've seen that he's quite a hit with Joe and Pippa."

"So you usually know where he is?" pressed Gibbs.

"I guess so. Not because I'm keeping an eye on him or anything but he's quite sociable when he's down here."

"So he's never disappeared for this length of time before? He doesn't decide to go off on a long hike and not tell you?"

"No. He's gone off on planned hikes before but he's always got Millie to pack him a lunch. That boy eats like a horse, he never goes far from a food supply."

Gibbs came to a decision. The Tony who came to Milsom Bay was a Tony slightly out of his experience but it seemed that the people who knew this 'other Tony' were concerned and so he decided to listen to his gut and sound the alarm properly. If it turned out that Tony and Borin were having a romantic encounter somehow, he'd just live with the embarrassment. He took his cell out and snarled as he saw there was no signal; he thrust it back into his pocket and stalked off in the direction of the café not pausing to consider the irony of such a technophobe being cross when technology let him down.

He phoned McGee from Millie's landline,

"McGee! I want you to trace DiNozzo's cell. And do the same for Agent Borin."

"What's up, Boss. Ducky said to come into the office and get ready but he didn't say what for. Is Tony in trouble?"

"Don't know, Tim. He and Borin may have stumbled on to something in a Coastguard investigation. Nobody's seen them since last night."

"But ..." said McGee

"McGee, trace the phone. Ask questions later. Phone me back on this line."

The phone rang a few minutes later. Millie gestured that it was all right for Gibbs to answer it.

"Boss, I've got a location on Tony's cell. It looks as if it's on the beach about a mile from where you are. I can direct you to it."

"I couldn't get a signal on my cell out there, McGee. You won't be able to reach me," said Gibbs.

"It might just be your cell, Boss. I've traced Tony's, it's a newer model, more sensitive. Do you have anyone near who has a newer phone?" asked Tim, thinking to himself that it was unlikely that anyone had a cell _older_ than Gibbs' phone.

"Anyone got a cell newer than this?" asked Gibbs holding up his elderly model. John and Millie both nodded and held out their newer cells to Gibbs. "Thanks," said Gibbs as he selected John's. He gave McGee the new number so that McGee could direct them.

John went with Gibbs in case he struggled with the technology and Joe, who had got bored, decided to tag along too. John drove the jeep as Gibbs listened to Tim. They soon found Tony's cell in the patch of beach grass where he'd dropped it. Gibbs picked it up but then found himself at a loss, he had never mastered a Smartphone. He handed it to John who looked equally puzzled, his phone was newer than Gibbs but he hadn't graduated to a Smartphone yet.

Gibbs was about to ask McGee for long distance instructions when Joe tugged on his pant leg,

"I know how to work it. Daddy's got one just like it."

"McGee," said Gibbs, "Joe thinks he knows how to work DiNozzo's cell. Do you think it will be OK?"

"How old is he, Boss?"

"Joe, how old are you?" asked Gibbs.

"Six years and eleven months," said Joe precisely.

"Nearly seven, Tim," said Gibbs, earning a beaming smile from Joe who longed to be actually seven but couldn't often persuade adults that he was nearly there.

"Should be fine, Boss. Do you want me to tell him what to do?"

"Go ahead. Joe, Agent McGee is going to ask you to do some things on the cell. Is that OK?"

Joe nodded eagerly and took Tony's phone in his hands. Gibbs held John's phone to Joes' ear so he could hear what Tim said.

"OK, Joe, is the cell switched on?" asked Tim.

"Yes," said Joe

"Can you see if any calls have been made recently?"

Joe tapped a few times, "No. Looks like last night was the last call. To speed dial #1, Gibbs."

"OK, thank you, Joe. Can you pass me back to Agent Gibbs?" Gibbs put the phone to his own ear, "Nothing obvious, Boss. I'll start doing some more sophisticated tracking and searching but it doesn't look as if it's going to help."

Joe pulled on Gibbs' leg again. Gibbs looked down, "What is it, Joe?"

"Uncle Tony took some pictures this morning. Look."

Gibbs looked as Joe scrolled through about twenty pictures of the fishing boat and the smaller dinghy.

"McGee! Tony took some pictures on the cell. Can you look at them?"

"Sure, just email them to me."

Gibbs shrugged his shoulders, "Joe, do you know how to email these to another number?" Joe nodded confidently. "OK, there should be someone called Tim McGee on there. Send them to him."

"I'm not very good at reading yet," confessed Joe, "if I show you Uncle Tony's address book, can you show me who to send it to?"

It took a little while between Joe's lack of spelling prowess and Gibbs' poor near vision but eventually they located Tim's name and Joe pressed send. Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief but wondered how it had come about that Tony and Borin's survival might depend on a seven year old.

By the time they got back to Millie's McGee had received the pictures and he and Abby had started analysis.

"Boss, we've got the name and registration details of the fishing boat. It's the Blue Swallow, registered in Virginia Beach to Mark Walcott."

"Send the details to the Coastguard. Tell them to keep an eye out for it. Get the Virginia police to go and stake out the mooring, Send Ziva and Dorneget there as well." ordered Gibbs.

"On it, Boss. Abby's looking at the pictures of the people in the dinghy ..."

"Gibbs," came Abby's voice, "I've run facial recognition on the passengers. Two of them came up straightaway. Lee and Wayne Tricker. Lee Tricker is a former petty officer who was based in Norfolk until he got a bad conduct discharge last year for drunkenness. Wayne Tricker, his brother, works for Mark Walcott on the Blue Swallow."

"Good work, Abs, McGee," praised Gibbs, putting the phone down so they could continue their research.

"Agent Gibbs," said John tentatively, "what do you think's going on? You can't be sure that this boat is linked to Tony's disappearance, can you?"

"Tony misplaces his cell around the office and at home but I've never known him lose it while he's out," said Gibbs, "that suggests that he either deliberately dropped it or ... or it was taken from him. Link that to a boat holding an ex petty officer with a bad conduct discharge – well, I don't like the look of it."

The phone rang again, it was Abby, "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs. I've just had a hit back on one of the other people in the boat. You'll never guess."

"You know that I don't play this game, Abs. Just tell me," said Gibbs.

Gibbs could hear the pout down the line as the eternally optimistic Abby was frustrated again, "one day, Gibbs, one day. Anyway, the man in the boat is John Smith."

"You'd better let Fornell know, Abs," said Gibbs and put the phone down. He turned to see Millie and John looking expectantly at him.

"My team have identified another of the people in the boat. John Smith," he almost smiled at their blank looks, "odd name for the person who's number seven on our most wanted wall. He's involved with drug trafficking, people smuggling and money laundering all along the Eastern Seaboard. We suspect that he lives in Mexico but occasionally he makes visits to his people to make sure they're playing by his rules. We've never been able to work out how he gets in and out of the country; assumed he came across the Mexican border but now it looks as if he comes the long way by sea."

"Do you think the other people in the boat work for this man?" asked Millie.

"Might do," said Gibbs, "or he might just have bought a ride with the Blue Swallow to come in. Walcott might be running a business smuggling people in and out. It would explain what Borin's people had picked up a scent of."

"What do we do now?" asked John.

"Nothing," said Ducky, "I fear we just have to wait."

Gibbs frowned but agreed, "we're losing the light. We don't know where to look for Tony and Borin. The Coastguard is looking out for the Blue Swallow. The FBI have been alerted that Smith is in the country and will be on the alert. We'll just have to wait."

"I do hope Anthony and Agent Borin have somewhere dry to shelter," said Ducky, looking out of the window. "See, it's beginning to rain and the temperature is dropping."

NCISNCIS

Tony and Borin spent the afternoon taking it in turns to sleep. The one who was awake kept watch for passing boats and to ensure their companion did not roll off into the sea. There was enough room for them to lie down but little else at that time of day with the tide rising. As dusk began to fall, they felt alert enough to both stay awake and consider their options.

"I don't think Kilbride exactly left us in a shipping lane," observed Tony.

"No, I think he chose well," sighed Abbie.

"How well can you swim?" asked Tony, finally giving voice to the question which had hovered over them all day.

"Pretty well," said Borin, "I swim most weeks. How about you?"

Tony grimaced, "I'm pretty good but I'm more of a runner."

"Don't think running's an option here," observed Abbie, "you seemed a bit breathless this morning." She didn't make it sound like a criticism, just an observation from someone trying to think of a good plan.

"It takes me a little while to get going," said Tony, "I had some lung problems a few years back and they take a while to warm up. I'm usually OK after ten minutes or so. Don't worry, I've got good stamina. What about you, how far can you swim?"

"I probably do about fifty lengths of the pool," said Abbie, "I go quite quickly. I get bored though."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Are we really considering swimming for it?" said Abbie.

"Our food will run out soon," said Tony, "and as attractive as you are, I really don't want to have to eat you."

"Just think of the paperwork," agreed Abbie.

"And nowhere to cook you. I don't think I'd like Abbie sushi."

"I quite like sushi," said Abbie reflectively, "perhaps I'll eat _you_."

"Grandpa Paddington swam the English Channel," said Tony unexpectedly, "that's more than twenty miles. So distance swimming is in the genes."

"Don't those Channel swimmers have lots of support though, boats and food and stuff? And they know where they're going."

"Don't rain on my parade, here, Borin, I'm trying to look on the bright side. Other Abby would have been more encouraging."

"Sorry," said Borin, "what will the _DiNozzo_ genes do to help? Were they athletes too?"

"Not so that you'd notice. They leaned more to being couch pasta."

"Couch pasta?"

"They were proud Italians. Can you imagine them being couch potatoes?"

The light faded a bit more and the rain came down a bit harder.

"Ducky won't approve of me sitting in the damp, you know," said Tony but just then, they caught sight of a piercing light breaking through the darkness. They gripped each other's hand in relief. A lighthouse!


	4. Chapter 4

As night fell on their rocky island, Tony tried not to think what Millie might have cooked for him that night. Graham crackers had never been his favourite and today, with water in short supply, they had seemed particularly dry. He and Borin huddled together under the poncho but resisted switching the torch on until it got completely dark.

"Weren't the lighthouses put there because of dangerous waters?" asked Tony as they gazed at the distant light.

"Yes."

"So if we make for one, we'd be going towards those exact same waters?" asked Tony logically.

"Yes," agreed Borin, "but they may be more dangerous for boats than swimmers. We might be able to rest on rocks and the sandbanks."

"Sounds a real treat," said Tony, "when should we go do you think?"

"There doesn't seem to be much point in waiting," said Abbie, "if we go first thing, we will have at least have had something to eat. If we hang on, we'll run out of food and be weaker."

"How's your head?" asked Tony.

"Fine," lied Abbie, "how's yours?"

"Fine," lied Tony, and then started telling her the plot of 'Blackbeard the Pirate' until she nodded off to sleep.

In other circumstances seeing the sun rise from a desert island might have been rather appealing but it had no attraction for the bedraggled pair of federal agents that morning. Tony fished out the two power bars and handed one to Abbie,

"You should always wait half an hour after eating before swimming," he said seriously.

They looked at each other recognising that eating the snack was an acknowledgement that they were going to set off. The power bar was a bit stale, Abbie wondered how long it had been living in Tony's shorts but it was still the most delicious thing she'd eaten in years.

"Do you know anything about the currents round here?" asked Tony.

Abbie shook her head, "nothing specific. If we get into a current probably best not to fight it, let it take us. Weather's not too bad, bit of rain won't matter, we'll be wet anyway. Looks as if there's some mist coming down, that means it's even less likely there'll be any boats out to find us."

"OK," said Tony, "I can float for hours. Laying around doing nothing is my specialty."

As the minutes ticked down, they made their final preparations. Tony removed the $100 bill from his shoe and tucked it into his pocket of his running top, "Just think how mad we'd be if we made it to land and couldn't pay the cab fare home!"

They looked over what was left of the contents from the backpack. They had thought of trying to make the poncho into some sort of floatation device but couldn't think how to do it. Tony looked at the length of orange rope and had an idea,

"Give me your arm," he said to Borin.

"Why?" she asked, even as she gave it to him.

"I'll tie us together. We need to stay together, this way we won't be able to drift too far apart I'll leave a long length so it won't get in the way of swimming."

Abbie nodded her approval. They took one last look around them in the hope that a ship might suddenly appear but there was nothing to be seen except grey sky and grey sea.

"Last one in's a sissy!" yelled Abbie and jumped in. Tony laughed and jumped in after her.

And so began their long swim.

NCISNCIS

Ducky stayed with Millie overnight, regaling her with more tales of Scottish 'derring do' and trying to keep all their doubts at bay.

Gibbs made arrangement with the Norfolk base to have a launch sent to Milsom Bay overnight in case he needed to take to the water. He also made contact with Captain Lloyd at Camp Lejeune to ask if he had any trainees who would like to walk the coastline the next day looking for traces of the missing agents. Having done all he could for the day, Gibbs retreated to Tony's cabin, knowing he needed to rest but not knowing if he'd be able to. He found some tins of paint which he guessed Tony was going to use to paint the kitchen and bathroom. He decided he might as well do something useful so he opened the tin of blue paint and started on the kitchen.

A couple of hours later, John knocked tentatively on the door,

"Agent Gibbs, I saw the light on. I've just made some coffee, would you like some?"

Gibbs grunted agreement and laid down his paint brush. John looked at his handiwork and wondered if Tony would mind that his kitchen was going to be blue instead of green . He hoped Tony would be back to find out.

Gibbs followed John up to his shack and accepted a cup of coffee and a piece of Millie's Dundee cake. His eyes fell on the portrait john had been painting of Tony.

"You finished it then?" he said, pointing his mug towards the canvas.

"Yes, it just needs to be framed now."

"Looks good," said Gibbs, gazing at what was indeed a good likeness. John had managed to capture not just what Tony looked like but something of his energy and enthusiasm. In some places it still looked almost sketch like, unfinished.

"Thank you," said John, "I kept on fiddling with it. Trying to do the eyes was a nightmare, one day they'd look green, another day they were grey and sometimes a colour I couldn't guess at. It seemed in the end best to leave it as it was, I could have kept on changing it, filling it in but somehow an unfinished quality seemed to say something about Tony."

"You suggesting that I should do the same?" asked Gibbs gruffly.

"What do you mean, Agent Gibbs?"

"You seem to be saying _you_ knew when your job with Tony was over. Are you saying I don't? That I should walk away?"

"By no means," said john, "I don't believe for one moment that Tony is ready for you to walk away, your work with Tony is not over. May I speak frankly?"

"Seem to be doing that already," said Gibbs.

"What Tony has found here is an _addition_ to his family/his friends, it's not _instead _of what he already had. He comes here to relax, to unwind so that he can continue to do the most important thing of all."

"Which is?"

"Being a federal agent and being on your team, Agent Gibbs. He's always cancelling coming down here because work demands it. If I was going to put it crudely, Milsom Bay is a 'nice to have' but DC is essential and I think you're a big part of that."

Gibbs took a sip of his coffee and said, "Yuh," which could have meant anything but which John chose to interpret as a pleased acknowledgement.

"I think Tony's been let down by people who should have known better, Gibbs. Don't be another one of them. You're important to Tony, please don't forget that."

"Thanks, John", Gibbs nodded, " Your coffee sucks by the way."

John laughed and thought about telling Gibbs he'd painted Tony's kitchen the wrong colour but he decided to let Tony fight that battle.

Gibbs went back to Tony's hut, finished painting the wall and then went to sleep on Tony's couch.

NCISNCIS

Tony tried to remember how long it had taken Grandpa Paddington to swim the English Channel. He seemed to remember it was something like fifteen hours. Tony guessed they had been going for about six and he already felt exhausted. Most of the time, he and Borin were on their backs and just kicking gently. Logically, he though it shouldn't have been tiring but it was; he guessed it was the cold water, the inability to take a break and the tension of not knowing where they were or if they had done the right thing in leaving their rocky refuge.

Tony heaved a tug on the rope and was reassured to feel some resistance. His greatest fear was losing Abbie. He steered himself in her direction and saw that she looked exhausted too although she managed a smile and a wave. Tony tried to think back to when he had been training hard in basket ball and football and whether he had ever felt like this. He could remember being tired and in pain but somehow he had never felt this bone weary and he wondered why this was so different. And then he realised the difference, he and Borin didn't seem to think they would survive. They were doing what they should do but they weren't doing it hopefully, they had gone into the water already defeated.

A surge of anger washed over Tony and he decided to welcome that feeling rather than submit to a Zen-like feeling of resignation and placidity. He was a Buckeye and he wasn't going to go down tamely. He swam nearer to Borin,

"Hey, beautiful, you come here often?"

She spluttered a reply which might well have been an expletive.

"That wasn't very nice, Agent Borin. Did they teach you that at Coastguard School?"

"Go away, DiNozzo. Save your energy."

"I've been thinking about that and I think we're going about this the wrong way."

"You want to swim back to the rock?" asked Borin.

"Oh no, no, no. I think we just need to adopt a more positive attitude. 'Put on a happy face.'"

"I'm doing fine," insisted Borin.

"You don't look as if you're doing fine. Come on, we're federal agents. Hey, you've even got a motto. We need to be more confident. I'm sure Gibbs is looking for us. What are you sure of?"

"I'm sure you're very annoying."

"That's better," said Tony, "now why don't we think of a NCIS motto. Do you know the Latin for annoying? It could be Semper Irritatus. I'm sure Ducky will know the answer. I know, let's play a game."

"Softball?" suggested Borin.

"Very good, Agent Borin. But I don't think you've quite got the hang of this. How about Twenty Questions. You can go first."

Abbie laughed but decided to play along and, rather to their surprise, they found that they swam along quicker when they were no longer thinking only about staying afloat.

NCISNCIS

At midday, Gibbs got a call from a jubilant Fornell,

"We got him, Jethro. John Smith. Picked him up as he went into one of his goon's casinos. Easy as pie. I owe you one."

"Thank DiNozzo," said Gibbs curtly, "has Smith told you anything about what happened?"

"We only just arrested him, Jethro. We're processing him now. Don't worry, I'll ask him."

"We need something, Tobias. We've got nothing to go on at the moment. I got marines from Camp Lejeune combing the shore line but we've got no idea where we should be looking."

"OK, OK," said Fornell, "I'm going to interrogate him personally but, Jethro, there isn't much I can offer him as an incentive to tell me anything. This guy's going down for a long time whatever he says."

Gibbs sighed and rubbed his eyes as he put the phone down. He knew Smith didn't have a softer side to appeal to and, as Fornell had said, there wasn't anything Fornell could offer him that would make him give them any information. He decided to call McGee,

"McGee, any sighting of the Blue Swallow?"

"No, Boss. And Mark Walcott hasn't turned up in Virginia Beach. Do you want Ziva and Dorney to stay there?"

"Yeah, McGee. Don't know where else to send them at the moment."

He was about to end the call when he heard Abby calling his name,

"Gibbs, Gibbs. Something odd's just happened."

"Abby, don't make me guess."

"No, sorry. Well, not sorry because I know how you feel about apologies. We _all_ know how you feel about apologies ... and coincidences ... and people texting during baseball games and ..."

"ABS! Don't make me come down there!" roared Gibbs.

"Gibbs," said Abby in a wounded voice but then she seemed to hear Gibbs' intake of breath as he wound up for more and she hurried on to say, "The hot line has had a weird message."

"How weird?" asked Gibbs.

"Oh really, really weird, Gibbs," said Abby earnestly.

"I meant how is it weird, not how weird is it?" said Gibbs.

"Oh, I see. 'Cos I thought you meant the other thing," babbled Abby.

"McGee!" shouted Gibbs, "what's the message on the hot line."

"Uh, Boss. It's weird, but you already know that. Someone left a message to say NCIS should go and look somewhere off the North Carolina coast. Left some co-ordinates."

"Did they say why?" demanded Gibbs.

"Uh, no, Boss. It's a guy, sounds panicky. The operator tried to get more out of him but he hung up."

"OK. Notify the Coastguard, get them on the way. Send me the co-ordinates too, I've got a launch on standby here. I'll go out and look as well."

"Right Boss, they're about twenty one miles off the coast from where you are. We're trying to get satellite coverage of the area as well but there's a lot of sea mist out there at the moment and I don't think they're going to spot anything."

"Keep in touch," ordered Gibbs, "Norfolk sent a satellite phone with the launch so you should be able to keep in contact more easily."

"Sure, Boss," said McGee, hoping that Gibbs would be able to work out how to use it.

"Ah, Jethro," said Ducky, Millie has made some sandwiches. You should eat, you know."

"No time, Ducky, a message came into the NCIS hotline saying NCIS should go look at a bunch of co-ordinates about twenty miles from here."

"To what end?"

"Don't know but I'm going to go look."

"Then I shall come with you, Jethro. If we find them, they may be in need of medical attention."

"OK, hurry up then."

"Can I come too?" asked Joe.

"Sorry, Bud," said Gibbs, stooping down to look him in the eye, "not this time."

"But I helped before," said Joe logically, "I helped you work the phone."

"Yeah, you did good, Joe. But you need to stay and look after your Granma." He tousled the boy's hair, "can you do that for me?"

"S'pose so," said Joe moodily.

"Good boy," said Gibbs rising to his feet with a crack of his knees.

"I'll come too, Agent Gibbs," said John, and before Gibbs could object continued, "I'm quite good in a boat and I know the currents round here. I might be able to help."

"OK, come on then, before the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker want to come as well!"

John and Ducky looked at each other in astonishment. "Jethro made a joke!" said Ducky, "I must remember to tell Anthony."

It took them a couple of hours to get to the co-ordinates, they had to go slower than Gibbs would have liked because of the fog and the danger from sandbanks. The launch had sonar fitted but it wasn't safe to go full throttle. Gibbs' gut began to churn as they drew near, not knowing what to expect; wondering if this was a practical joke or whether they would find DiNozzo and Borin sitting in a boat arguing about movies.

What they found was a bare rock with a poncho and a single running shoe floating round it.

"Looks as if a wave went right over it," observed Gibbs, "can you hook that stuff out, Sutherland?"

John leaned over and managed to retrieve the floating articles. They examined the poncho and found that it was marked 'Property of Blue Swallow – please return after the cruise'. Gibbs looked at the shoe,

"Same make as Tony wears," he said, "and the same size."

"So they were here," said Ducky, "look, there's some rope floating too."

They hooked up the rope as well and Ducky noticed some traces of blood that hadn't washed away yet. Gibbs produced an evidence bag,

"Put it in there, Duck. Abby'll be able to get DNA off it."

"It looks as if they were here then," said Ducky.

"But where did they go?" asked John, "you don't think ... you don't think they were dumped here, do you?"

"I think they might have been dumped," said Gibbs, "but I think they were dumped alive. Not their bodies."

"And what makes you think that, Jethro?" asked Ducky.

"Those ropes have been untied. If they were dead, the killers wouldn't have bothered to untie them. My guess is that they were put here and left to die."

"And do you think they have? Died, I mean?" said John.

"Nope. If that shoe is still here, their bodies would be too," said Gibbs.

"Do you mean that they've decided to swim for it?" asked Ducky aghast.

"It's what I'd do," said Gibbs, "they had no way of knowing anyone was going to come looking for them. Hell, we wouldn't have known where to come without that tip off.

"What do we do now?" asked Ducky.

"Sutherland, can you take the wheel for a bit. I'm going to contact McGee and tell him to alert everyone that we've got two federal agents in the water. Then we'll start searching ourselves. We can stay out a few hours and then go back."

"I'll phone Millie and let her know what's happening. She'll get people looking as well," said John.

"I'll go and make some coffee and open the sandwiches Millie supplied," said Ducky, "I think we should keep our voice lubricated so we can shout out for our missing friends."

NCISNCIS

Tony and Borin couldn't imagine what the swim would have been like if they had been doing it on their own. As it was, they were able to encourage and support each other. When Tony got cramp, Borin talked him through it and trod water around him until he was able to go on. A few minutes later he returned the favour as cramp attacked her too.

They were able to laugh when they both jumped because something brushed against their leg and made them swallow mouthfuls of water,

"You sure the North Carolina alligators don't come out here?" said a spluttering Tony.

"Relax," said Borin, "they're freshwater only. They don't come out to sea."

"I wish I was freshwater only," said Tony plaintively.

"Perhaps it was a turtle," suggested Abbie.

"That'd be cool," said Tony with unexpected enthusiasm.

"Why?" asked Borin although she knew she'd get an explanation anyway.

"Those turtles in 'Finding Nemo' were _great_," said Tony, "and they showed Marlin and Dory the way to Sydney. How cool would that be?"

"You want to go to Australia?" said Abbie, playing along, "let's just try swimming to Milsom Bay first. Baby steps, eh?"

"You're probably right," said Tony, "we'll swim to Oz some other time."

"Hey!" said Borin indignantly, "are you suggesting I'm Dory in this journey?"

"Of course not," said Tony peaceably, "I've told you a thousand times!"

Borin snorted with laughter and then jumped a bit as something brushed her toes.

"I feel like a pobble," she said.

"A pobble?" queried Tony.

"'The pobble who had no toes, had once as many as we'", quoted Abbie, "sorry, it's a nonsense poem by Edward Lear".

"Oh, I know what it is," said Tony, "My mom liked the poems. Bit tactless though, Borin. I seem to remember the pobble lost his toes while out on a long swim!"

"My bad," said Abbie.

"Now if it had been the Jumblies," said Tony, "that would have been fine."

"Remind me what the Jumblies did,"

"'They went to sea in a sieve, they did, in a sieve they went to sea'. And they came back and it was all wonderful. "

"I remember," said Abbie, "but didn't they have green heads and blue hands? Not a good look."

"My hands may go blue soon," said Tony. "I wonder if Gibbs has arrived yet."

Borin was becoming accustomed to the way that Tony's mind jumped from one thing to another but she couldn't quite see how this leap had been made. She frowned at Tony who hurried to explain,

"If he goes to my hut, he'll see the green and blue paint. With any luck he'll start the painting. I hope he knows that the kitchen's meant to be green. Oh, I'm worried now."

"We're stuck in the middle of the ocean and you're worried what colour your kitchen's going to be?"

"Hey, didn't you realise this has all been part of a master plan to lure Gibbs down here to paint my hut?"

"Wouldn't it have been simpler just to ask him?" said Abbie.

"Guess so," said Tony in a rather sad voice. "Do you know the 'Owl and the Pussycat'?"

Neither of them could remember all of it but they occupied another half hour in teasing it out of their brains until they were able to recite it all with Tony doing all the voices except that of the cat which he graciously allowed Borin to have.

All in all, Tony thought it had all been going 'swimmingly' until something brushed against his arm and he felt a burning sensation. He swore.

"What's the matter, Tony?" asked Abbie.

"I think a jelly fish just got me," gasped Tony.

There was nothing to do but ride out the pain. Borin couldn't help remembering the fuss Tony had made when he'd stubbed his toe when working with her on a previous case. She would hardly have known it was the same person: this Tony, after the initial curse, just gritted his teeth and got on with it. She drew closer to him and let him grip her hand as tightly as he wanted as she continued to recite the 'Owl and the Pussycat', occasionally getting it wrong so he would have to correct her.

As the pain began to ease, Tony wondered if his hearing had been affected, it seemed that the water was making a different noise, he hushed Abbie,

"Abbie, sshh. Can you hear something?"

"What?"

"The water sounds different. As if waves are hitting something."

Abbie listened, "you're right."

"Do you think we're near land?" asked Tony with a sudden spurt of joy.

"I don't see how we can be," said Abbie regretfully, "it's been about ten hours, I reckon, and we've not been going in a straight line so I don't think we can have gone far enough yet."

"What then?"

"I think we may be near one of the sandbanks," she said.

"Is that a good thing?"

"Depends how long it is. We might be able to rest on it for a while. I think the tide's going out rather than in so it might get more exposed."

"I think I love you, Special Coastguard Agent Abigail Borin," said Tony, "rest would be good right now, don't you think?"

"Yeah, and if the tide is going out it might just suck us back out if we're in the water. If we wait a while, the tide might push us in a bit further."

They swam on a bit more hopefully now and soon reached the sandbar that Abbie had predicted. They would never have expected a damp and soggy patch of sand to be so welcome. In theory they should have taken turns to sleep but in practice both were asleep within seconds, still linked by the orange rope.

NCISNCIS

Gibbs, John and Ducky spent some hours motoring gently and quietly, hoping to find Tony and Borin but they were unsuccessful. McGee had reported that the satellite pictures showed only mist and murk but he was working on the tip line message to try and find out who had left it.

Finally, and reluctantly, Gibbs decided they would have to make for Milsom Bay. It was too dark and too foggy for them to see anything and they were in danger of needing to be rescued themselves.

"Hold on, Tony," he said under his breath, "hold on. I'll find you."


	5. Chapter 5

"Cough, cough, cough".

Tony was woken by the sound of coughing. For a few moments he was back under the blue lights of Bethesda but he didn't remember his hospital bed being this hard ... or this wet ... or in such a draught. He roused more and remembered, almost regretfully, that he was not in hospital but stuck on a sand bar off the North Carolina coast. The next thing he realised was that it was not him who was coughing but his companion. Borin must have been exhausted as it seemed that her coughing hadn't woken her up.

Tony shook her gently by the shoulder and she gasped and then opened her eyes.

"You all right?" asked Tony.

"I'm fine," she said, "I'm going to order one of these sandbanks for my bedroom at home, they're real comfortable."

"You were coughing," pointed out Tony.

"I used to smoke," said Abbie, "still catches me when I wake up."

Ton forbore to mention that he hadn't heard her coughing before but he felt a new determination to get her out of the water. He looked around, it was getting dark and the mist was still hanging over everything.

"What do you want to do?" he asked, "stay here overnight or press on."

Abbie thought for a while, for so long a while in fact that Tony wondered if she had fallen asleep again.

"How long do you think we've been here?" she asked.

"Five or six hours?" guessed Tony. He was normally good at keeping track of time but this was out of his usual experience.

"Let's wait a little while," said Abbie, "see where the lighthouse is shining from and then we can strike out. Unless you want to stay overnight?"

"No, I think we should carry on," said Tony in a determined voice, "I'm cold, hungry and thirsty and none of that is going away while we sit here."

"Shall we go now then?" said Abbie.

Tony looked at her closely, she had been decisive through all the ordeal so far but now she seemed uncertain. He wondered if it was the first sign of hypothermia, then he wondered if he was suffering from it too. He put his arm round her and pulled her close,

"Agent DiNozzo," she squeaked exaggeratedly, "we hardly know each other!"

"I think we should share some body heat," he explained, "or what little we have, anyway."

"My mom warned me about boys like you," said Abbie, "but I've never heard it called that before!"

They stayed as they were for a few minutes and began to feel a little warmer. The prospect of re-entering the water was not appealing but they could feel the tide beginning to reclaim their refuge so they knew they'd have to leave soon.

"The water's not going to be so open for a while," said Borin, trying to remember if she had ever seen any coastal maps of the area, "so we're going to have be careful."

"You mean we'll have to stop being so reckless? Stop swimming so fast and not practise somersaults anymore?"

Borin laughed, "there might be more currents and we might find ourselves bashed against some rocks. But there might be more shallow areas, so depending on the tide, there might be bits where we can wade."

"Looking forward to it already," said Tony. He stood up and untied the rope from his arm.

"What are you doing?" asked Abbie, feeling an unexpected sense of loss at the thought of not being tied to Tony.

"I think we need a shorter length between us," said Tony, "if we leave it this long we might find it gets caught on rocks and pulls us back. I'm going to wind it round my middle a bit and then re-tie it to us."

"OK, sounds good," agreed Borin.

Tony made his adjustments and, just as he finished, the light came on again.

"Hey," said Abbie, "it looks much nearer than I thought it would." She concentrated for a few moments, "I think it's the Oak Island light," she said.

"How do you know?" asked Tony.

"Nerdy boyfriend," Borin reminded him.

"Nerds have their place," said Tony sententiously, "and what does this light tell you?"

"I think we're probably about five miles off shore. We need to keep the light on our left and push forward. That way we should avoid the danger off the island."

"Five miles, "mused Tony, " a stroll in the park. Or rather, a paddle in a pond. Ready?"

Borin nodded and they entered the water again. They were much more tired than when they began and longed for something to drink but they had a new sense of hope that they were within striking distance of safety.

NCISNCIS

A small group of people were waiting by the jetty when Gibbs and his party got back to Milsom Bay. Logically they knew that nothing had been found but they came anyway. They all went back to the café where Gibbs found he had a missed call from Fornell on his cell. He phoned him back,

"Tobias. You called me," he barked when Fornell picked up.

"Have you found our missing agents?" asked Fornell.

"No," said Gibbs, "have you got anything for me?"

"We were wrong," replied Fornell, "John Smith decided if he was going down he might as well take as many people with him as he can."

Gibbs felt a stirring of hope, "what's he told you?"

"He came ashore on the 'Blue Swallow' and paid Mark Walcott for the trip. Seems that Walcott is the goto guy for anyone who wants to get in or out of the US illegally, always assuming they'll pay a bucket load of cash."

"Did he say anything about DiNozzo and Borin?" pressed Gibbs.

"He didn't get a good look," said Fornell, "couldn't identify them from the photos I showed him but he said that Walcott's goons took a man and a woman captive."

"Did he say what happened to them?" asked Gibbs.

"No details. He wasn't really interested but he thinks they were being taken out to the boat. He didn't turn back to look."

"Thanks, Tobias," said Gibbs and ended the call.

"Good news, Jethro?" asked Ducky.

"Smith has confirmed that he came into the country on the Blue Swallow and that Walcott took a man and a woman prisoner," said Gibbs shortly.

"And is that good news or bad news?" asked John.

"It confirms our suspicions," said Gibbs, "and it means we can put a BOLO out for Mark Walcott." He called McGee,

"Tim, Smith has confirmed he came in on Walcott's boat. See if the FBI have put a BOLO out for Walcott. If they haven't, you do it."

"Yes, Boss. Um, I guess you didn't find Tony or Agent Borin?"

"No," said Gibbs shortly, "any luck on the tip call?"

"Not yet, Boss but we've been following another line. We think we have something."

"You _think_, Agent McGee?"

"Er, sorry, Boss. Poor choice of words. Yes, Abby and I have come up with something."

Abby broke in,

"We did a background check on Lee and Wayne Tricker, Gibbs. Tracked phone calls, credit cards and stuff. Lee Tricker is still good friends with some of the sailors from Norfolk."

"Anyone in particular?" asked Gibbs.

"Petty Officer Jack Kilbride," said McGee, "who used to live in Milsom Bay and still has a sister living nearby. He went to school with Wayne Tricker and seems to have hung out with both of them. Kilbride has access to the navy patrol schedules. That could be useful for Walcott planning to bring people in."

"Add this petty officer to the BOLO," ordered Gibbs, "and talk to his CO."

"Already issued the BOLO, Boss. And I talked to his CO. He's got a clean record but his CO thinks he's probably easily led. As we said, he's good friends with Lee Tricker who isn't actually purer than the driven snow."

"That's good work, McGee," praised Gibbs.

"Boss, there's more. Kilbride works in an office near the new case agent. He would have seen Tony around the base."

"So?"

"So, I just wondered if it fits in somehow. Perhaps he recognised Tony at the wrong moment, something like that."

"Won't know till we find one of them," observed Gibbs.

Abby spoke again, "the voice on the tip line belongs to a man, a young man – perhaps the same age as Petty Officer Kilbride. The accent might match as well."

"You think it's this Kilbride who made the call?" asked Gibbs.

"Don't know, Gibbs," said Abby, "sounds as if he's been clean up to now, perhaps he panicked at the thought of killing Tony and Borin."

"Any way to find out?" asked Gibbs.

"The CO is looking to see if he has any recordings of Kilbride's voice," said Abby, "they video a lot of training courses, so it's possible. If they find something, we'll be able to do a voice comparison."

"OK, make sure you both get some sleep tonight," ordered Gibbs.

"Boss," said McGee, "do you want me to come down? I can hitch a ride on a helo. I can bring my lap top, I can do most things on it."

Gibbs was tempted, he would feel better with a trained agent at his side but, in his heart, he thought McGee was of more use back at the Navy Yard where the technology was more available.

"No, McGee, stay where you are. I'll let you know if I need you here."

"You sure, Boss?" said McGee hopefully.

For answer, Gibbs just ended the call.

After distractedly eating a plate of Millie's steak and fries, Gibbs went back to Tony's hut and finished painting the kitchen and then started on the bathroom.

NCISNCIS

Although Tony and Borin felt they were making more headway they were also finding the going more difficult. As Abbie had predicted, they went through a stretch of rocks and sandbars which sometimes allowed them to walk but which would then suddenly disappear and plunge them out of their depth again. They lost count of the number of times they took a tumble and were soon covered in cuts and bruises.

"We keep pulling each other over," said Abbie as she lay on a sandbar having fallen again. Perhaps we should untie ourselves."

"We're not going to risk getting separated," said Tony firmly, even as he picked himself up. He offered her a hand and she pulled herself up. "Come on, we'll get through this soon."

Abbie didn't reply, the last hour had been difficult and she was trying to save her energy for walking and swimming rather than talking. Strangely, however, she didn't find Tony's continual stream of chatter annoying and she reckoned that while she was coping by being silent, he needed to cope by talking.

In this she was only partly right. Tony was naturally talkative, he liked to think aloud but he was capable of silence; it was just that he didn't think stoic endurance was the right tactic at the moment. When Tony had been made captain of his varsity basket ball team, the coach had been frank about his reasons. He told Tony that he wasn't being made captain because he was the best tactician (although he was pretty good,) or because he was the best player (although he was very good). No, he was being made captain because he understood what being in a team meant; he would care about every member of the team and make sure they did their best: that, the coach concluded, was what made a captain.

On that dark, misty night some decades later, Tony wasn't captain of the team but he was conscious of the team and felt his responsibility for his other team member. He would do whatever he needed to make sure she survived. So, whenever he could, he talked so she would know she was not alone and that he still had energy enough for both of them. He recalled the whole plot of 'Finding Nemo' and then went on to every movie which featured a desert island.

"When we get back to dry land, and we've dried off, I'll take you to see any movie you want," he promised as he spat out another mouthful of seawater.

Borin tried to splutter an answer.

"What's that?" said Tony, "no, it's all right, I'll pay, I can afford it, I've got a $100 bill remember!"

They carried on walking/swimming and suddenly found themselves just swimming and they hoped they were beyond the treacherous rocks and sandbars and might be on the last leg of their journey. Tony began to fantasise that they would land at Camp Lejeune and find themselves surrounded by marines but Borin thought they were probably too far south. The wind picked up and the waves grew bigger but this worked in their favour, they learned to let the waves carry them forward although this had the disadvantage of making them swallow even more water.

As a particularly large wave carried them up they suddenly realised that, for the first time, they could see land. They grinned madly at one another even as they gulped down more salt water.

"How far?" gasped Tony, still trusting Borin's judgement on this.

"About a mile?" guessed Borin.

"Go, NCIS!" shouted Tony.

"Go, Coastguard!" responded Borin.

The last mile proved tricky. They were caught in a current but let it take them as if it seemed to be taking them slightly towards the coast. After a while, however, they realised that it was just moving parallel to shore and wasn't helping them any longer. They drew on their last reserves of energy and swam against the current and finally got through and made their way more directly towards land.

On another day, thought Tony dreamily, a moonlit swim in the ocean with a beautiful companion would have been a pleasant pastime but coming as it did after a twenty mile unsupported swim, famished, cold and parched, it wasn't something he wanted to repeat in a hurry. The feeling of finally being able to put his feet down on solid ground was a pretty amazing one and he relished it for a few seconds before an unfriendly wave shoved him face down. Borin came tumbling down too and after a pause they started crawling out of the water.

Finally they reached firm sand out of the reach of the lapping waves. They rolled to face each other and smiled. Abbie reached out to pat Tony's shoulder but lacked the energy to complete the gesture and her arm flopped to the ground. Tony looked at her anxiously, she was shivering and her skin looked bluey-grey.

"Let's get going," he said, "I've got a $100 bill to spend."

He heaved her up, calling on his old athletic training to carry on when it seemed impossible. They staggered a little way towards a sand dune and then suddenly she gave a cry and fell to the ground clutching her ankle.

"Told you running on loose sand was a bad idea," said Tony even as he stooped to examine the damage. "Think it's just twisted," he said, "you'd better stay here and I'll do the Saint Bernard act."

"Thought the dogs found people, they don't raise the alarm," objected Abbie drowsily.

"I'll multi-task," promised Tony, "I'll find help and then come back with a keg of brandy."

"Don't think Ducky will approve of alcohol as a first aid technique," protested Borin.

Tony unwound the rope from his waist and stood up to survey the beach. He spotted a bigger dune which seemed likely to offer more shelter. He turned to tell Borin but saw that she was sound asleep. Wincing, he bent down and managed to pick her up and carry her to the dune. Then, with an unexpected pang of loss, he untied the rope and left her.

NCISNCIS

Gibbs slept fitfully that night; painting was not as soothing as planing a piece of wood and he could hear the wind and rain beating on the roof of the hut. He couldn't help but think of Tony lost somewhere in the sea and trying to find his way back. He tried to take comfort in remembering that Tony was still an athlete, he ran regularly so his stamina was good. He tried _not_ to remember Tony's bout with the plague or Ducky's careful watchfulness when Tony stayed out in the rain too long.

He rose early in the morning and went down to the café which had become an unofficial nerve centre for the local searches which were going on. John came in shortly after Gibbs and, in the his careworn face and that of Millie, Gibbs recognised how important Tony had become to them.

"What's the plan today, Jethro?" asked Ducky, coming into the room looking his usual dapper self if a little ragged round the edges.

"I'll take the boat out again," said Gibbs, "I'll work out a search grid with the Coastguard and Norfolk and we'll go looking."

"It was quite a rough night," observed John. Nobody replied; there was nothing to say.

Gibbs' satellite phone rang,

"Gibbs," he replied.

"Boss," said McGee, "we've confirmed that it was Petty Officer Kilbride who made the call to the hot line."

"Good work," said Gibbs.

"Boss, I've just had a ping on Kilbride's cell."

"Where is he, McGee?"

"Uh, he's rostered for duty today. It looks as if he's on his way to work!"

"Contact the CO. Tell him to take Kilbride into custody when he reports to duty. Get in a helo to Norfolk and arrest him."

"Do you think he'll be able to help us find Tony and Borin, Boss?"

"Don't see how. We know where they dumped them, we just don't know where they are now. I still want to get my hands on Kilbride and he can lead us to the others. Bring him down here when you've picked him up. I want a word with him."

"On it, Boss," said McGee, feeling ever so slightly sorry for Kilbride.

Gibbs, Ducky and John resumed their search in the section they had been allotted. A couple of hours in, McGee called in on the satellite phone,

"Boss, I've got him and he's singing like a canary. Says he didn't know what was going on. Thought he was just helping to smuggle in economic refugees not crooks."

Gibbs snorted his opinion of that excuse, "Where are you now, McGee?"

"At Norfolk, Boss. I called your friend Captain Lloyd and he's arranged another 'training exercise'. He's sending a helo to bring us to Camp Lejeune. Should be there within the hour."

"OK, McGee, we'll come in to land. Come and meet us in Milsom Bay. Make sure we do this by the book, don't want this guy skating on any technicalities"

"Understood, Boss."

Gibbs ended the call and swept the launch in an arc to return to Milsom Bay. The mist had lifted and the sun was out; it would be a better day for searching.

They were nearly back when the phone went again,

"Gibbs."

"Sir, this is Sergeant Clifton. I've been leading the trainees searching the coast for your missing agents."

Gibbs' heart lurched in a mixture of relief and dread, "You found them?"

Ducky and John looked up in sudden hope.

"We found Agent Borin, Sir. She was asleep or unconscious, not sure which, in a sand dune. We're taking her down to the local doctor."

"Has she said anything? What about Agent DiNozzo?"

"She's a bit confused, Sir. Think she's suffering from exposure, pretty banged up too. Says they came ashore during the night, while it was still dark. Think she'd probably been out cold since then."

"You said '_they_ came ashore. Is Agent DiNozzo there too?"

"No, Sir. Like I said, they both came ashore. She thinks he went to get help but, Sir, that was about seven hours ago. He hasn't been back. We don't know where he is."

* * *

_AN – OK, I went for heroic Tony! Apologies by the way, for talking about elevenses in an earlier chapter: I hadn't realised it was only we greedy Brits who give that name to our mid morning snack _


	6. Chapter 6

"Where are you taking Agent Borin, Sergeant?" asked Gibbs.

"Nearest doctor's in Milsom Bay, Sir," said Sergeant Cilfton. "We're starting basic first aid for hypothermia. I think she'll be OK,"

"Give me your location," said Gibbs, making a sudden decision, "stay where you are and I'll come to you. I've got a doctor with me, he'll take a look at her."

Ducky brightened at the thought of a living patient but remembered to grab hold of the side of the boat as Gibbs performed a violent change of direction even as he listened to the marine's directions.

Agent Borin was well on her way to recovery by the time Gibbs and Co arrived and the sergeant was having difficulty in preventing her from starting a one woman search for Tony. He sighed with relief when he saw Gibbs approaching.

"Stand down, Borin," barked Gibbs, "don't give the sergeant a hard time."

Abbie had the grace to cast a conciliatory glance at Clifton but she maintained her rigid posture.

"Agent Borin," said Ducky smoothly, "I am delighted to see you. I wonder if I could prevail on you to sit down so that I can examine you. My legs are a bit unsteady after Jethro's hasty arrival and I would appreciate the opportunity to rest them."

Abbie knew she was being played but, as she wasn't feeling quite as energetic as she was pretending, gave way. Ducky insisted she put the emergency foil blanket back round her shoulders. A quick examination revealed the bump on the back of her head, the raw wrists where she had been tied up, numerous bumps and scrapes and a swollen ankle. He listed them as he found each injury and when he had finished, Borin spoke up,

"See, I'm fine."

"Young lady," said Ducky severely, "you are not fine. You are showing signs of hypothermia, you are probably dehydrated and in need of something to eat more nutritious than that power bar the sergeant has supplied. I also suspect that you could sleep for twelve hours without any difficulty."

"Dr Mallard, "said Abbie, "I don't disagree with any of that but after the way I've felt for the last two days, believe me, that sounds fine to me."

"Duck," said Gibbs, having waited more or less patiently for the doctor to finish his examination, "is it all right if I speak with Agent Borin?"

"You don't have to ask his permission," said Borin hotly.

Gibbs raised one of his eyebrows in a gesture familiar to his team at least and it seemed to have an equally quelling effect on Borin. She subsided.

"Yes, Jethro, by all means," said Ducky, "I am going to look in my medical bag for some dressings for Agent Borin's injuries so you may use that interval for your questions."

As he walked away, Gibbs squatted next to Borin so she could remain sitting.

"We came ashore just before dawn," said Borin, getting straight down to the detail she knew Gibbs wanted. "I managed to twist my ankle just as we were walking up the beach. Makes me feel like someone out of a romantic novel. It's such a cliché, the little woman breaking down."

"Not your fault," said Gibbs calmly, "you'd just swum about twenty miles with no food or water or proper gear. I'd have probably broken a leg."

"I doubt that," said Borin, "but thanks. It's all a bit hazy. I was pretty out of it by the time we hit land. Tony picked me up and put me in this sand dune. He said something about getting a St Bernard to rescue us and then he went. I haven't seen him since."

"What's that rope for?" asked Gibbs, pointing to the length of orange rope.

Abbie cast an almost fond look at it, "That was Tony's idea. He tied us together with it. He was determined we weren't going to be separated."

"It's a rule," observed Gibbs, "always work as a team. Where did the rope come from?"

"How much do you know?" asked Borin, "I'm guessing you've worked some of it out seeing as you're here and there were so many marines looking for us."

"You need to thank Joe," said Gibbs, "he sounded the alarm about an hour after Tony didn't show up for ball practice and for his Granma's food."

"And that was enough?" marvelled Abbie.

"Sure," said Gibbs, "I know Tony well enough to think he wouldn't go back on a promise ... or miss a meal so I took a risk that you and he weren't enjoying a romantic tryst somewhere and came down. We found Tony's cell and identified the boat he took the photos of."

Borin thought back, "we nearly got away with it. Someone recognised Tony from Norfolk ..."

"Petty Officer Kilbride?" asked Gibbs.

"Wow, you have caught up," said an impressed Abbie, "yeah, but then one of the others recognised me and the goon in charge decided to play safe and dispose of us. What were they up to? I think Tony recognised one of the men in the boat."

"Should think so," said Gibbs, "it was John Smith, seventh on our most wanted board. Your smuggling ring was bringing people in illegally."

"Have you caught them?" asked Borin eagerly.

"Not yet," said Gibbs, "but we will. So, where did the rope come from?"

"Oh yes, goon in chief told Kilbride and two other goons to take care of us. They interpreted that as dumping us at sea."

"On a rock twenty miles out," said Gibbs.

"How do you know that?" asked Borin.

"Kilbride called our tip line and told us to look at some co-ordinates he gave us."

"You went to our rock?" asked Borin.

Gibbs nodded, "we got there about 14.00 yesterday."

Borin looked shocked, "we left about 06.00. If we'd stayed there, you would have just come along and picked us up."

Gibbs shook his head, "you weren't to know; hell, we weren't to know either. Besides we could tell that the rock had been overwhelmed a few times by the time we got there. You wouldn't have found it easy to stay there."

"Still ..." said Borin.

"Hey," said Gibbs sharply, "don't try and second guess yourself. Neither you or DiNozzo is the type to hang around waiting to be rescued. You made the best decision you could and you made it back in one piece. Now, where did the rope come from?"

"Oh, Kilbride got twitchy about leaving us. He tossed a backpack to us when the others weren't looking. It had the rope in it, a poncho, some biscuits and a couple of bottles of water. I don't think we'd have made it if he hadn't done that."

Gibbs nodded, thinking that perhaps he wouldn't be quite so hard on the petty officer when they finally met. He looked at the dune in which Borin had been found and noticed something odd,

"Where did that water container come from? Doesn't look like marine issue."

Borin followed his gaze and saw a large plastic bowl of water. She looked puzzled and thought for a few moments,

"Of course, Tony came back. He woke me up, said something about the St Bernard again, made me drink and then went off again. I think I probably went straight back to sleep. Where did he go, Gibbs?"

"I don't know, Borin. I don't know."

NCISNCIS

Earlier that day.

Tony walked slowly but doggedly up the beach to where he could see the road. He was reeling with tiredness but was determined to carry on. He reached the road and saw an amazing sight. He shook his head and tried to focus, worried that he was hallucinating but finally accepted that there really was a drinking water faucet in front of him. He realised it must be there for people using the beach so they could fill their water bottles or wash the sand off. He lurched up to it, turned it on and put his mouth underneath and drank thirstily. Normally he liked what Gibbs called 'designer water', chilled and in a glass but today he decided that ordinary water had never tasted so good.

He drank for a while and then thought about Borin. What would be best to do? It might be some time before he could rouse someone to help and she needed water. He saw a sign by the faucet and laughed,

"Drinking bowls. Please take one and leave a donation to help maintain the beach."

A plastic box by the faucet contained a heap of clean bowls and there was a flimsy wooden box in which to leave donations. Tony picked out the largest bowl and filled it with water. He hooked out his soggy $100 bill and poked it into the donations box. He smiled to think what someone would say when they opened the box but $100 seemed a small price to pay for the best drink he had ever had.

He walked back to Borin's sand dune with renewed energy, carrying the brimming bowl carefully. He had a bit of trouble waking her up, but eventually she opened her eyes to glare at him.

"Agent Borin, the St Bernard didn't have any brandy but I think you were right. Ducky wouldn't approve. Here, drink some of this." He held the bowl to her lips and she drank gratefully.

"Had to spend my money," he said cheerfully, "so we won't be able to go to the movies yet but I told you that money fixes most things."

She nodded a bit blearily and burrowed back down and went to sleep again. Tony smiled, everything was going right at last and their ordeal would soon be over. He wondered if Gibbs was in Milsom Bay yet.

He stood up and stretched and gazed out to sea. The light was getting stronger and he could see quite a way out, he marvelled how calm and serene the water looked from the safety of land. He turned and resumed his journey up the beach. He had walked a few hundred yards westwards when he saw an unwelcome sight. A boat similar to that he had taken photos of on the beach at Milsom Bay was moored a little way out and a small boat had just landed on the shore. He shook himself, it must just be coincidence; nevertheless he decided not to risk approaching them for help. He wished he had enough energy to pretend to be someone taking an early morning jog on the beach but that idea was a non starter.

He tried to walk nonchalantly but purposefully on towards the road but it turned out that the discovery of the bowls of water had exhausted his luck. A car pulled up on the road and Tony recognised the goon from Milsom Bay; this time he was leading a passenger from the car down towards the boat and Tony guessed that this was someone he was smuggling out of the country.

The men from the boat were converging with the men from the car and there was no way that Tony could remain unseen. He swayed a little, then a lot and finally tumbled to the ground.

Walcott gestured to one of the Trickers to stay with their passenger while he went to investigate with the other one. They stood over Tony's still form,

"It's the fed," said Wayne Tricker.

"I thought I told you to get rid of him," said Walcott,

"We did," protested Tricker.

"Then why he is here?"

"Jack showed us a rock. It was miles out. We thought if we left them both there, they'd die and it would just look like an accident if their bodies were ever found."

"So what? He _swam_ here?" demanded Walcott.

"Must have," said Wayne.

Walcott kicked Tony who didn't move but continued to feign unconsciousness. Walcott leant down and put his hand on Tony's neck to see if he could feel a pulse.

"He's still alive," he said.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Tricker, "shoot him?"

"No. Or at least, not here. You were right the first time, we want it to look like an accident. We'll take him with us. He looks half dead so he may do us a favour and die anyway."

"Where do you think the woman is?" asked Tricker.

"Don't know," said Walcott, "and I'm not hanging round to find out. Give me a hand."

Tony's faint hope that they might leave him where he was died as Walcott and Tricker carried him between them and placed him in the dinghy.

"Get on to Kilbride," ordered Walcott, "find out when it'll be safe to put out to sea."

Tony concentrated on staying as inert as possible as they manhandled him on to the fishing boat. He hoped they wouldn't tie him up but Walcott was thorough and ordered Lee Tricker to tie him to the power block for the fishing gear.

"We'll toss him overboard when we're out to sea," said Walcott, "don't think he'll be in any shape to swim back again," and he laughed.

Tony couldn't help but agree, he didn't feel up to a length of his bath at home, let alone another twenty mile swim. He wondered if Borin might be able to raise the alarm but knew she wouldn't know what sort of alarm to raise. He concentrated so hard on keeping his eyes closed that he finally fell asleep.

NCISNCIS

Gibbs considered what to do about the mystery of Tony's whereabouts. He ordered Sergeant Clifton and his men to carry on looking for Tony,

"I'm going to take Agent Borin and Dr Mallard back to Milsom Bay," he said, "then I'll come back to help in the search."

He and Ducky helped Borin, who was beginning to flag again, into the launch where John had been patiently waiting. McGee was waiting at the café for them when they arrived and with him was a nervous petty officer Kilbride.

"You didn't find Tony, Boss?" asked McGee.

Gibbs glared at him in lieu of an answer and McGee hurried on,

"This is petty officer Kilbride, Boss," said McGee.

"I'm sorry," blurted out Kilbride, "I didn't mean for it to go so far. And when I realised they were going to kill Agent DiNozzo and the other one, I tried to stop them. I did, really I did."

Gibbs looked at him dispassionately but, remembering that he had probably saved Tony and Borin's lives, couldn't bring himself to be as terrifying as he was capable of being,

"You'd better tell us everything you know about Walcott's operation," he said firmly.

Kilbride nodded eagerly, too frightened to think of negotiating a deal.

"He uses both boats," he said, "the Blue Swallow and ..."

"He's got _two_ boats?" demanded Gibbs, "why didn't we know?" he said, turning to McGee angrily.

"Uh, uh," floundered Tim.

"One's registered to his brother-in-law," said Kilbride, "but he uses it as well. It's the Carolina Carousel."

"Find it," said Gibbs curtly to McGee. McGee scurried off to his laptop and phone to begin work.

At that moment, another cell began to ring.

"Whose is that?" asked Gibbs irritably.

"Er, I think it's mine," said Kilbride nervously, "Agent McGee has it."

McGee looked at the caller ID and held the cell out to Kilbride.

"Recognise it?" he asked.

"It's Mark," said Kilbride, "he said he'd call later."

"Why?" asked Gibbs.

"There's another job today. He's taking someone out. He was going to call to check what I knew about the patrols today."

"Answer it," ordered Gibbs, "play along. Tell him he needs to make his way towards Milsom. Tell him that will be the safest route."

Kilbride nodded eagerly. He answered the call, listened intently and then gave the instructions as Gibbs had directed.

"Good," said Gibbs as the call ended, "what time are they going to get here? I'll alert Fornell and he can pick them up. I want to get back and find DiNozzo."

"Uh, Agent Gibbs," said Kilbride, "Mark just told me that they have Agent DiNozzo!"

"What!" bellowed Gibbs, "How?"

"They found him wandering on the beach where they'd landed. He collapsed in front of them and they've taken them out to the Carousel. They're going to throw him overboard when they put out to sea."

Gibbs' gut lurched at the twin pictures of a Tony who had collapsed on the beach and who been taken prisoner again. Before he could speak, Kilbride continued in an admiring voice,

"He must have made his way back to land the same way we did in the boat. We dumped them on that rock because it was close to the route we were taking back, to our base. That's a pretty neat trick. They managed to come the shortest way."

Gibbs' earlier softening towards Kilbride nearly vanished as he heard him talk so glibly about Borin's and DiNozzo's ordeal but he restrained himself.

"Kilbride, when are they going to get here? I want to be sure we ready for them."

NCISNCIS

Kilbride estimated it would take the Carousel about an hour to make it to Milsom Bay; they wouldn't want to draw attention to themselves by going too fast. Gibbs had to wait patiently and try not to gain too much amusement from McGee's glumness at having to take to the water in the launch.

Gibbs alerted the Norfolk commander and the Coastguard who agreed to take up position to cut off any escape route for the Carousel. Fornell and three agents managed to get there in thirty minutes in an FBI launch. Ducky insisted on going with Gibbs but john was told he had to stay behind, Gibbs wouldn't risk a civilian getting in the way.

After two days of bad luck and bad timing, things finally seemed to go to plan. The FBI and Gibbs' launches didn't scream 'federal agency' but looked more like rich boys' toys. They pretended to be having an inefficient race which the crew of the Carousel ignored: to their cost as they suddenly found themselves surrounded by the two launches and saw two heavy duty vessels making headway towards them.

Walcott was no stranger to violence and, if he could have got away with it, would have shot his way out of the trap but he was also a pragmatist and knew he would lose. The FBI, NCIS, Coastguard and Navy took control of the Carousel without a shot being fired.

Gibbs and McGee boarded the fishing boat and searched it thorougly but found no sign of Tony. Walcott seeing an unexpected escape, denied ever having brought him on board and, for a moment or two, Gibbs thought Kilbride had been lying to him.

McGee tugged on Gibbs' arm, "What is it, McGee?" he said irritably, hoping that Tim wasn't about to throw up on him.

"Boss, Ducky's waving at us."

Gibbs looked across to the launch where Ducky was indeed making frantic gestures.

"OK. There's nothing for us here, let's go see what he wants," said Gibbs.

Gibbs jumped with accustomed ease back into the launch. McGee followed with a little less grace but made it without incident.

"What you want, Duck?" asked Gibbs wearily.

"We have a visitor, Jethro," said Ducky briefly for once, "just after you all went on board, I heard a splash and then, well, see for yourselves who climbed aboard."

Gibbs and McGee followed Ducky's pointing finger and saw Tony's soaking wet body propped up against the side of the boat.

"Hey, Boss, McGoo," he said wearily, waggling his fingers in a feeble wave, "I've gone off water," he announced and his eyes slipped shut."

"It seems that Anthony decided not to wait to be rescued," said Ducky proudly.

* * *

_AN: we're nearly there. One more chapter, I think, to tie things up ... but probably not till the weekend._


	7. Chapter 7

_Not much action in this chapter, I'm afraid. Well, Tony's a bit tired!_

As Tony opened the door to his cabin he blinked in astonishment: the walls of his kitchen were bright orange. He blinked again and realised that he was in the squad room at the Navy Yard; he shook his head and went to sit down at his desk except that his chair turned into the rocky island and the sea was beating against it. Where was Borin? He looked in all directions but couldn't see her. Then he thought he caught a glimpse of her red hair disappearing under a wave and he jumped in to try and reach her. He swam towards her but she kept disappearing and reappearing just out of arm's reach. He made one last desperate effort but, just as he touched an outstretched hand, she slipped away.

"Borin," he shouted, "where are you?"

Tony sat bolt upright in bed,

"Hey, DiNozzo! It's all right," came Gibbs' calm voice, "you're safe."

Tony looked around and realised that he was sitting up on his bed back at the cabin and that Gibbs was looking at him with a quizzical look on his face. He opened his mouth to ask another question but Gibbs beat him to it,

"Borin's fine too. Bit battered and bruised, like you. She's back at Millie's."

Tony nodded. Now that he was a bit more awake, he could vaguely remember being shepherded by Gibbs, Ducky and McGee back to the café where Millie was waiting with hot soup and dry clothes. He seemed to remember that he had, rather bizarrely, shaken Borin by the hand when he first saw her. He tried to remember what else had happened,

"Did I finish the soup?" he asked.

Gibbs chuckled, "No, about three mouthfuls in, you were about to go swimming in it, so we brought you back here."

"Oh," said Tony regretfully.

"it's waiting on the hob when you want it," said Gibbs apparently able to read Tony's mind.

"Hmmm, later perhaps," said Tony sleepily, "you staying?"

"I'm staying," said Gibbs calmly. He watched as Tony's eyes drifted shut. They opened again,

"I thought you'd painted the walls orange," Tony said unexpectedly, "but they're blue. I thought they were going to be green." His eyes slid shut again and stayed that way as he fell asleep.

Gibbs looked at the walls thoughtfully but before he could do anything there was a light tap at the door and Ducky came in.

"Ah, Jethro, how is Anthony doing?"

"You just missed him, Duck. He woke up for a couple minutes, he was having a nightmare. Thought he'd lost Borin."

"it's hardly surprising that he should experience some lingering psychological effects," said Ducky, "I know the word is overused but I would have to describe his and Agent Borin's journey as 'epic'."

"They did well," said Gibbs with a hint of pride.

"Yes," said Ducky, "but no more than we would expect, eh? Now, Jethro, I think it is as well that Anthony has returned to the Land of Nod. I need to give him an injection of this broad spectrum antibiotic with which Dr Murray was kind enough to supply me."

"There a problem, Duck?"

"I thought I detected a couple of crackles when I listened to Anthony's chest when we first recovered him. I have been in contact with Dr Pitt and we think, just as a precaution, that it would be wise to put him on a course of antibiotics. When he is more awake I will ensure that he takes them orally in tablet form but I would prefer not to wait to begin the treatment. Perhaps you could assist me?"

"Sure, Duck. I just hope he's sound asleep. You know how he feels about injections."

Gibbs' fears were unfounded. There was a slight wince as the needle went in but Tony didn't wake up.

"I will leave you to it then," said Ducky, "I am going to check in on Agent Borin. Do you want me to bring some food down later?"

"No need, Duck. Sutherland said he'd bring something in. I think DiNozzo will sleep through till morning now. I'll bring him down for breakfast."

"Very well. Let me know if you need anything. Good night."

Left alone, Gibbs thought back on the eventful day. Once they had assured an anxious Tony that Borin had been found, Tony let Ducky examine him as the launch returned to Milsom Bay. Tony's injuries matched Borin's almost exactly except he had a jelly fish sting instead of a twisted ankle.

"What's up, Doc?" asked Tony as Ducky packed away his equipment.

Ducky directed a mock glare at Tony, "And how long have you been waiting to use that, may I ask, Anthony?"

Tony just shrugged his shoulder, feeling a little loopy in his exhaustion. Ducky chuckled and replied, "Just like Agent Borin you are in remarkably good shape considering the circumstances." He was about to add his automatic order to stay still and take things easy but a glance at Tony assured him that, for the moment at least, the agent was completely spent.

"How d'you find me?" Tony asked.

"Thought it was more you found us," observed Gibbs wryly.

Tony shrugged again, "wouldn't have made it to shore though. Boss, so I'm glad you turned up."

"It was Petty Officer Kilbride," said Gibbs.

"Yeah, he's being real helpful," said McGee, "he directed the Carousel to come this way so we could intercept him."

Tony nodded, thinking that he would ask for more detail later but settled for the moment for putting in a good word for him,

"He left us some food and water on the rock, Gibbs. Don't think we would have made it without that. What's going to happen to him, d'you think?"

Gibbs considered, "like McGee said, he's being helpful and he'll testify for the prosecution so he may be able to cut some sort of deal. But," he sighed, "can't get away from the fact that he gave away details of navy patrols. That's pretty serious even without helping to abduct federal agents."

Gibbs patted Tony on the shoulder. As he moved away he heard McGee say,

"Two nights alone with Agent Borin, eh? Bet you've got some stories to tell?"

Gibbs looked back and saw Tony directing a half hearted glare at Tim before nodding off once more.

Once they reached the quay, they led Tony to the jeep and drove to the café where they found Sutherland and Millie waiting for them. Gibbs found something settling in his gut when he saw their concern and their practical care. John had brought some dry clothes from the cabin and Millie had cooked some soup.

Tony clasped the change of clothes to his chest but then looked a bit uncertain. Gibbs intervened,

"Go to the bathroom and change, DiNozzo."

Tony nodded obediently.

"Don't take a shower yet, Anthony," warned Ducky, "I think you might fall asleep in it."

Tony nodded again and tottered off to the bathroom.

About ten minutes later, Gibbs heard a child's voice down the corridor. He recognised it as belonging to Joe who had been brought down with Pippa when Millie had passed the good news on to their parents in Raleigh. He followed the sound and saw Joe dragging a dazed Tony out to the yard where the hoop was,

"Come on, Uncle Tony, you promised to shoot some hoops with me."

Gibbs chuckled and made an intervention,

"Joe, you'll have to wait. Tony's tired,"

"Grown-ups are _always_ tired," said Joe moodily.

"Sorry, Joe, " said Tony, "but I am a bit beat. I promise I'll play tomorrow if your dad brings you down after school."

"He will," said Joe darkly and Gibbs had no doubt that Kit _would_ bring Joe down. "I helped," said Joe, "I really helped. John and Agent Gibbs couldn't use your cell but I could."

"Good boy," praised Tony, and he leaned down to whisper in Joe's ear, "p'raps you can give Agent Gibbs some lessons tomorrow."

Joe giggled and hugged Tony, "I was worried, Uncle Tony. I thought you was lost."

"Lost and found," said Tony lightly, "no worries. Come on, I think your Grandma mentioned soup."

He took the ball off from Joe and took him by the hand. Then, with his back to the basket, he threw the ball one handed and it went neatly through the hoop. Joe looked back in awe and allowed himself to be taken away.

Borin turned up as Gibbs directed Tony into the dining room.

"Agent Borin," said Tony formally.

"Agent DiNozzo," replied Abbie equally formally.

They shook hands and then grinned at each other. Tony punched Borin lightly on the shoulder and she returned the gesture,

"Glad you're OK," they said in unison and laughed. They gave each other a brief hug and then sat down at the table.

"Did Gibbs tell you that they turned up at the rock a few hours after we left it?" asked Borin.

Tony shook his head.

"If only we'd waited a bit longer," said Borin.

"Hey," said Tony firmly, "don't try and second guess yourself. We made the best decision we could and we made it back in one piece ... well, almost," he winced as he touched the jelly fish sting.

Borin couldn't help but smile as Tony unconsciously echoed Gibbs' words earlier in the day. Tony went on, "Besides, 'if only' are two of the saddest words in the English language. Don't go there," and he put his hand over Borin's in reassurance. They were interrupted by another voice,

"Uncle Tony! Uncle Tony!" It was Pippa making her way determinedly towards him. She climbed up into his lap, forcing him to use both hands to hold her, "I've got a green bow today," said Pippa confidingly, "'cos you said you like green."

Gibbs, overhearing, thought Pippa was a bit of a charmer. He seemed to remember her saying that she had a pink ribbon the other day because Uncle Tony liked pink. Tony didn't seem to mind, however,

"It looks very pretty, Pips," he said.

Pippa beamed at him, "you look tired," she said matter-of-factly, "you should go to bed earlier."

"Good advice," said Tony seriously, "thank you, Pips."

Millie and soup arrived at that moment. Pippa reluctantly got off Tony's lap when it seemed likely Tony would drip soup over her if she stayed. Tony swallowed three mouthfuls but it became clear that he was about to fall asleep in the bowl. Gibbs removed the spoon gently,

"Come on, Tony. I think you need bed more than food."

Borin looked up, "Gibbs, he was pretty special out there. Really kept us going, he was determined we were going to stay together."

"That's DiNozzo," said Gibbs simply, "and from what I hear, you did pretty good too. Kilbride reckoned that you and DiNozzo had taken the shortest route possible back to land. That's pretty impressive navigation, Borin."

Borin shrugged modestly, "Guess we make a pretty good team then."

"You sticking round?" asked Gibbs even as if he manoeuvred Tony up from the table.

"No, I'm heading back tomorrow. The boyfriend who stood me up this weekend is having a guilt attack. Thought I might as well reap the benefits of that! Good bye, Gibbs. I expect we'll bump into each other again."

"Bye, Borin. And thanks," said Gibbs.

"Bye, Tony," said Borin.

Tony waved an aimless hand, "Bye," he said groggily.

So Gibbs had brought Tony back to the cabin and settled him in. He was surprised to realise how much _he_ needed to be the one watching over Tony and he was grateful that Tony's new friends seemed to realise that too and were content to let them be. It was another Indication that Milsom Bay folk liked, and cared for, Tony but didn't want to take him over. There was still room for Gibbs in Tony's life. Gibbs wondered if he had been afraid of something different and that was what had made him ambivalent about Tony's new life.

NCISNCIS

After Ducky's visit, Tony did indeed sleep the night through. He seemed to have a couple of restless dreams but a word from Gibbs was enough to make him realise that he was no longer lost at sea and he settled down again. Gibbs slept in a chair by Tony with his legs propped up on the bed. As the cabin filled with the morning light, Gibbs felt Tony stir and looked down to see that his agent was awake.

"Morning, Boss," Tony said cheerfully.

"You look a bit more awake this time," observed Gibbs.

Tony grinned and made to get up but suddenly felt dizzy. He lay down again,

"Oops, perhaps I'll wait before I try that again."

"I'll make you some tea," said Gibbs, "you haven't eaten or drunk anything in a while. Apart from trying to swim in Millie's soup."

Tony frowned at that but decided that was a question for another time. Gibbs came back with a mug of sweet tea and a piece of toast.

"Try that," he said, "then you can have a shower and we'll go down to Millie's for breakfast."

"More water," grimaced Tony.

"You did well, Tony," said Gibbs.

Tony looked surprised, "I'm not dying, am I? Or am I already dead?"

"Nope, you're not dead or dying," said Gibbs tranquilly.

"Oh," said Tony, round a mouthful of toast, "'cos you don't usually tell me I've done _anything_ well. So you can understand the confusion."

"DiNozzo, you and Agent Borin swam twenty miles with no supplies or equipment after being knocked out by a gang of crooks. That counts as doing well in my book."

Tony looked more depressed than Gibbs would have expected after receiving praise from him, "that's a bit worrying, Boss," he said. He saw Gibbs' puzzled look, "if that's the sort of thing I have to do before you give me an 'attaboy', then I don't reckon I'll get another before one of us retires."

He took another sip of his tea. Gibbs wasn't sure how to follow this up but Tony had something else on his mind and Gibbs saw that he looked distracted.

"Wasn't the kitchen blue last night?" he said at last.

"Yep," said Gibbs, "but you said you meant it to be green."

"So you painted it again?" said Tony in amazement.

"Sure, it's your home. You need it to be how you want," said Gibbs as if it was nothing.

"And you stayed?"

"Sure," said Gibbs

Tony looked at Gibbs who nodded. Tony felt that something had been given and received between them. A warm feeling swept through him.

"Thanks, Boss! Now, did you say something about breakfast?"

* * *

_AN: thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed/followed this return to Milsom Bay. _

_Obviously I don't own the NCIS characters but it was fun to play with them. _

_I'll leave you all to decide what happens when Tony and Borin meet up again ... I don't think that penitent boyfriend will be around for long!_


End file.
